


Sakura and Her Blue Haired Boy

by E_Hiiragizawa



Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [1]
Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama & Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love, Magic, Original Character(s), Relationship(s), School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 86,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28031583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Hiiragizawa/pseuds/E_Hiiragizawa
Summary: Sakura and Eriol get closer and their friendship grows. But soon, Sakura realizes that her feelings for him have developed into something more. The question is, can she trust him? And more importantly, can she trust her own feelings?
Relationships: Eriol Hiiragizawa/Kinomoto Sakura
Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126565
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place right after the final test, the final battle between Sakura and Eriol.
> 
> Fujitaka is NOT Clow's reincarnation (I will have a different explanation for that).
> 
> Eriol's power didn't get divided in halves. Being at full power, he's still the most powerful magician in the world.
> 
> Kaho Mizuki is not in the story and Eriol doesn't even know her personally.
> 
> Please ignore whatever canon that is not compliant with this story. It's a fanfiction after all. I can do whatever I want, I guess.

**Chapter 1**

"Why did you do it?" Sakura asked the bespectacled sorcerer as they all sat around the table in the formal dining room in Eriol's house.

"The cards were dying, so was Yue." Eriol turned his gaze briefly towards the silver-haired Moon guardian. After their battle was over, he had invited Sakura, her guardians, Tomoyo and Syaoran to his house. He knew they had questions and he owed them some explanation, especially the new Cardmistress. He turned his attention back to her. "Your magic wasn't strong enough to sustain them. The Clow cards were powered by the Sun and the Moon, but your magic is based on the Star. Thus, they had to be transformed, to match your magic."

"But why must you create all of those… situations just to get me to change the cards?" Sakura asked. "Why not just tell me?"

Eriol was quiet for a moment. "It's more than just transforming the cards, Sakura. It's about making you a stronger and a better magician. Do you remember what happened with The Dash?" At Sakura's nod, he continued, "If you knew the cards and Yue were dying, you would've rushed it. You would have wanted to save them all, even when you were not strong enough. That's why I had to do it this way."

Sakura had to admit that he was right. If she knew, she would've used up her power to do whatever she could to help them.

"You still could've just told her." Tomoyo said sharply.

Eriol turned his eyes towards her. "I suppose I could… But, it's like what I said, it's more than just transforming the cards."

"How is it making her a better, a stronger magician?" It's Syaoran's turn to ask.

"You, out of all people, should know the importance of practice, Syaoran, especially in combat. Let's just call it, a training." Eriol simply said. Syaoran looked like he wanted to say more but thought better of it.

"How about Touya? How does he fit in all of these?" Sakura remembered about her brother who was currently unconscious in one of Eriol's guest rooms.

"He doesn't. His only involvement is giving Yue the energy earlier. He does have a strong magic himself." Eriol replied. "And he knows about your magic. I suggest that you talk to him about it, once he wakes up, that is."

The room fell silent. Neither Kero nor Yue had said a word since they got here. "I do apologize for the things that I've put you through, all of you." Eriol emphasized the last point to Sakura's guardians. "However, please understand that I have my own reasons to have done it this way."

"I'm sorry, Eriol. I just… I need some time to think about this, about everything." Sakura said, feeling a little overwhelmed by what she had just learned and what had happened that night.

Eriol nodded and gave her a kind smile. "I understand, Sakura. If you have any more question, I'll be here."

Sakura nodded and slowly got to her feet, followed by her friends. Yue and Kero, however, remained where they were. Sakura glanced briefly at them, but she could see that they needed to talk to Eriol. ' _Or Clow…_ ' She thought. So, she didn't say anything and just stepped out of the room. As the rest of the party left the room, Eriol signalled to his own guardians to leave. Reluctantly, Nakuru and Spinel left too, leaving Yue, Kero and Eriol alone.

"It seems like you have something on your minds." Eriol started.

"Why didn't you tell us, Clow?" Kero almost growled the words.

"I'm not Clow, Cerberus." Eriol said gently. "However, Clow had his own reasons for not telling you."

"Reasons that you know of but won't tell us anyway." Kero said, somewhat accusingly.

Eriol just nodded. "Clow did what had to be done and so did I. The cards, and you, Yue, are safe. Sakura has gotten much stronger and she's going to get even stronger. She'll need you, both of you, to help her."

"How about you? What is your role going forward? Don't tell us you went through all those troubles to get reincarnated just to make Sakura change her cards!" Kero floated up to face Eriol directly.

Eriol looked at him and said, "That, Cerberus, is a question that only Sakura could answer."

Kero blinked. "What does that even mean?!" He demanded an explanation.

Instead of answering him, Eriol stood up. "I believe Touya has started to come around and he would want to see you, Yue. Shall we?" He gestured to the door.

Yue silently stood and made his way to the door. Kero hesitated, but then followed his brother out.

Five minutes later, everyone, including a very confused Touya, was on their way.

_Two weeks later…_

Sakura made her way to the empty bench at the school yard and sat down. School had started a week ago, but after their conversation, things had been rather… awkward between them and Eriol and Sakura was at loss of what to do. She understood why Eriol did what he did, and in a way, she was grateful for it. Without his help, who knew what would have happened to her cards and her Moon guardian. However, Tomoyo and Syaoran didn't see it that way. Sakura knew that Syaoran never liked Eriol. The Chinese boy never attempted to hide it. But Tomoyo had no reason to dislike him. Yet she had been acting rather coldly towards the boy and had done everything to keep Sakura away from him too. Sakura sighed heavily as she glanced around. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she missed talking to him. Despite everything that had happened, Eriol had been her friend and she had enjoyed spending time with him. Sakura continued to sit there, hoping that he would pop up out of nowhere, like he usually did, and talked to her. Sakura waited until the bell rang and then she reluctantly got up and walked back to class.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, the object of her thoughts was standing behind the tree, watching her with certain sadness across his face.

_Yet another two weeks later…_

After the battle, Sakura had told Touya and Yukito about magic, the cards and the guardians. They seemed to take it quite well, all things considered, although Touya and Kero had been at odds with each other ever since.

Over the past weeks, Touya and Yukito had gotten closer and only last week, they finally told Sakura and Fujitaka about their relationship. Given Sakura's feelings towards Yukito and what had transpired between them, she had expected to feel hurt, but to her surprise, she felt nothing but genuine happiness for them.

Yukito had wanted to see how the Moon guardian looked like, so after some convincing, Sakura had managed to take a picture of Yue and showed it to him.

"That doesn't look like me at all." Yukito looked at the picture in amazement.

"Uh, no, I suppose not." Sakura said rather awkwardly.

"So, is this why I've been having memory lapses and found myself in unfamiliar places?" Yukito wondered.

Sakura nodded. "When Yue, ah, takes over, I guess, you went to sleep…? I'm sorry, Yukito, I'm not so sure about how the mechanics work." Sakura apologized. ' _But I bet Eriol would know._ ' She thought as she was reminded of the blue haired boy.

Sakura had wanted to talk to him. After all, he did say it himself that if she had any question, he would be here to answer them. But something held her back. She just didn't know what. Besides, Tomoyo had been trying her best to keep Sakura as far away as possible from him.

"That's okay, Sakura. At least now I know that I didn't just pass out or sleepwalk." Yukito flashed her a smile, which she returned. It surprised her that after her confession, and his rejection, Sakura's feelings towards him seemed to have completely vanished. ' _How odd…_ ' Sakura had thought, but she didn't dwell too much into it. Her brother and Yukito seemed happy and she was just happy for them.

Currently, Sakura, her father, her brother and Yukito were sitting around the dining table, eating dinner.

"Hm… Looks like it's going to be an overcast tonight. The sky looks pretty dark." Fujitaka commented lightly. "That reminds me, there was this strange thing that happened a few weeks ago. I was in my office in the university. I must've lost track of time somehow because the next thing I knew, the sky was dark, and I found everyone else to be sleeping. It was like the whole building was asleep. I tried to wake them but couldn't. It lasted for a while, but when everyone finally woke up, nobody seemed to know what was going on."

Sakura almost choked on her food at Fujitaka's comment. She looked at her father wide eyed and glanced at her brother and Yukito, but they gave her a blank look; looked like she was on her own in this one. "Uhh… ah, yes, that does sound very odd, Dad." She gave a nervous laugh.

"Do you know anything about that, Sakura?" Fujitaka asked her.

"No, why would I know anything about that?" She replied quickly, too quickly. She then gave her father a nervous smile. "If everyone was asleep, then maybe I did too." Sakura said. ' _Oh no! Why did I say that?_ ' "But why didn't you say anything?"

"I guess I thought it was very odd that it couldn't be real. Besides, I had a long day that day, so maybe I was just tired." Fujitaka said with a smile.

"Oh, yes. You must be." Sakura agreed. Her mind, however, was whirling furiously. ' _This is impossible! Everyone was supposed to go to sleep that evening, so why didn't he? What's going on?!_ '

Sakura quickly finished her dinner and excused herself, glad that it wasn't her turn to clean up, since she had cooked dinner. She went upstairs and threw her bedroom door open, causing Kero, who was busy playing video game, to jump.

"Kero! Something is going on with my Dad!" Sakura said frantically.

"Whatever it is, it can wait, Sakura. I'm in the middle of a battle right now." Kero turned his attention back to the screen.

"No! Listen to me!" Sakura grabbed her guardian, ignoring his protests. "My Dad didn't fall asleep that night! The night when Eriol supposedly put everyone to sleep! What's going on, Kero?"

Kero looked surprised at that. "What do you mean he didn't fall asleep? Clow's… Eriol's spell was very strong. Everyone else but us would have been affected by the spell."

Sakura told Kero about what her Dad told her. The guardian floated in the air in front of Sakura, with his arms crossed. "Hm… That is very odd, indeed. What did Yue say about it?"

"I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet. Yukito is helping Touya with the clean-up. What do you think happened? Oh god, do you think… do you think my Dad has magic?" Sakura started pacing. "I mean, it makes sense, right? Both Touya and I have magic. It has to come from somewhere."

"I have never felt any presence of magic from him, Sakura, so I highly doubt that. Besides, even if he had magic, the spell would still have worked on him. Being Clow's reincarnation means that Eriol can be considered as the most powerful magician in the world. That means, whatever spell he cast that night would have affected everyone, magic or no magic." Kero said, but Sakura had a point. Both she and Touya did have magic, even though Touya's was more of a Gift rather than magic. That had to come from somewhere.

"But the spell didn't work on me, or even Syaoran. He was able to fight the spell." Sakura frowned as she remembered how hard Syaoran was fighting the effect of the spell on him.

"Well, seeing that the whole point of the battle was to make you change the last few cards, putting you to sleep would kind of defy the purpose, isn't it?" Kero pointed out. "As for the kid, he didn't 'fight' it." Kero made an air quote. "Eriol _allowed_ him to stay awake, for whatever reasons."

Sakura looked at Kero in surprise. "What?"

"What? Did you really believe that the kid could resist Clow's magic? His magic is even weaker than yours, Sakura. He had zero chance to resist, let alone fight Eriol's spell. The only reason he wasn't on the ground like everybody else was because Eriol didn't want him to." Kero explained. Sakura still had a lot to learn about magic and he and Yue were supposed to help her, but things had been moving rather quickly lately and they wanted to wait until things had calmed down. Besides, to be perfectly honest, Kero didn't even know where to start. "Do you think we could have a chance to talk to Yue before he leaves?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll ask Yukito." Sakura said. "Kero, what do you mean Eriol allowed Syaoran to stay awake?"

"Eriol's spell didn't affect you simply because he didn't put a spell on you. He obviously put a spell on the kid, but at a much weaker intensity to allow him to stay awake. If he had wanted to, he could've just put him to sleep right away." Kero told Sakura.

"Why would he do that?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"I don't know, Sakura. Honestly, when it comes to Clow, and I suppose now Eriol too, who knows why he does things the way he does." Kero answered absent-mindedly. He was more concerned about what was going on with Sakura's father than whether Li Syaoran fell asleep or not during the battle.

Sensing that Kero had lost interest in Syaoran, and seeing that he didn't have the answer anyway, Sakura went downstairs to talk to Yukito. Lucky for her, Fujitaka had retired to his study, leaving only Touya and Yukito in the living room.

Yukito followed Sakura upstairs into her room before changing into Yue.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer either." Yue told them. "Like Kero said, even if he had some sort of a magic, it wouldn't have made any difference."

"So, what do you think we should do now?" Sakura asked her guardians.

Kero and Yue looked at each other, then Kero turned to his Mistress. "I think you should talk to Eriol. If anyone has the answer, it would be him."

Yue nodded in agreement. "He's the one who cast the spell. Only he would be able to tell you if what happened to your father was intentional or if there's another reason behind it."

Sakura took a deep breath and look at both of her guardians. "Well, I guess we have no other choice then."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sakura sneaked around the back of the school, trying her best to remain undetected. It had taken her some time to ditch Tomoyo, all the while trying to find Eriol.

' _Where is he?_ ' Sakura wondered. She knew he was around because she'd seen him in class earlier, but Sakura didn't have a chance to talk to him, no thanks to Tomoyo. She had been watching her like a hawk. Sakura still couldn't understand why she was so determined to keep her away from him.

Truth to be told, Sakura was glad that she had an excuse to talk to the young wizard. She guessed, she had just been trying to find some reason to talk to him and now she had one and a very important one too.

Sakura crept along the back wall. ' _I would never find him this way and lunch break is almost over._ ' Sakura thought. Just as she was about to give up the search, she heard it.

There was a sound of music coming from the open window nearby. ' _The music room! Of course!_ ' Sakura thought. She looked to her right and left, seeing that the coast was clear, Sakura made her way to the open window where the sound came from. Slowly, she peered into the music room and true enough, she spotted him sitting behind the grand piano. However, when Sakura caught sight of his face, her eyes widened.

Sakura had never seen Eriol sad before. He was always smiling, always happy. So it had come to a shock to her to see him like this. He didn't seem to notice her at first as he continued to play the piano. His face, and the music, Sakura quickly realized, was filled with such sadness and pain that almost brought tears to her own eyes. She didn't know what was going on or why, but seeing him like this made her heart clench painfully in her chest and before she knew what she was doing, she had reached her hand out, as if she wanted to comfort him.

Her movement seemed to have alerted him of her presence and as he turned to her, the sadness and the pain disappeared, replaced by a surprised expression, which quickly turned into a neutral expression as he saw her.

"Hello, Sakura." He greeted her, giving her a small smile that, Sakura noted, didn't quite reach his eyes. He stood up and started making his way to her.

"Ah, hi Eriol." Sakura said as she pulled her hand back hastily. "I'm sorry for disturbing you." She apologized.

"That's alright. How can I help you?" He asked politely as he slowly approached the window; his movements were slow and deliberate, as if he was afraid that if he made any sudden move, Sakura would run off.

"I, uh, you said that if I have any question… Erm…" Now that Sakura was actually talking to him, she didn't know what to say. ' _Should've rehearsed it first._ ' She thought.

"Do you have any question for me, Sakura?" He asked kindly, sensing her discomfort. He was leaning on the windowsill, looking at her.

Sakura gathered her thoughts. "Yes, it's, um, it's about my Dad. It might seem like a very weird question though." She frowned then. Now that she thought about it, this whole thing did look and sound very weird.

Eriol waited patiently or her to continue.

"You see, last night, my Dad said something strange. He said that the other night, when you, well, when you…" Sakura struggled to put her thoughts in words.

"When I put a spell on everyone that made them sleep?" Eriol supplied helpfully.

Sakura just nodded. "So, Dad told me that he… saw the sky turns dark and he said that everyone around him fell asleep, but, erm… he, he didn't." Sakura looked at him and noted the lack of surprise on his face.

"I see…" Eriol said simply. "Would you take a few steps back, please?" He told her.

Sakura looked at him in confusion, but she complied anyway. She stepped back from the window and then he jumped through the open window, landing on his feet softly in front of her.

"I don't think that this is the kind of conversation to be had across the window, do you?" He asked her with a soft smile that looked to be more genuine. It wasn't quite like the smiles that Sakura had gotten used to seeing on him, but it was definitely better than earlier.

Sakura shook her head. "I take it you know why he said that? Why your, uh, spell didn't work on him?" She asked, forgetting all about her nervousness as her curiosity grew. But it felt weird talking about magic with him like this.

Eriol nodded. "I do. It actually surprised me that it has taken this long."

Sakura gaped at him slightly. "What do you mean by that?" She asked curiously. But before he could answer, they both heard the bell rang, signalling that their lunch break was over.

"It's a long answer, Sakura. Would you like to meet me after school? I promise I will answer your questions and then you can decide what you want to do next." He told her.

"Okay." Sakura readily agreed. "Where should I meet you?"

"Where would be convenient for you?" He would rather discuss this matter at his house, in private, but he knew she might not be comfortable with that idea, so he was surprised when Sakura said, "How about I meet you at your house? I mean, from the sound of it, this sounds like something that should be discussed at length."

Eriol nodded in agreement. "It is. It's actually a very… delicate situation." He finished off. "See you later, Sakura." And with that, he walked away, leaving Sakura standing there alone.

' _Wait, what? Why did I suggest to meet him at his house?_ ' Sakura asked herself. She was surprised that she had even suggested it herself But, it was too late to back out now. Besides, she was really curious about what was happening with her Dad. Sakura was also aware that she felt excited, almost happy, that they were actually going to talk, but she chose to ignore that feeling for now.

***

Eriol spent the rest of the school hours not paying attention to anything that the teacher said. Instead, he was deep in thought about his encounter with Sakura earlier.

For the past few weeks, Eriol had been feeling miserable. Even before their battle, Eriol knew that once this was over, there was a big chance that Sakura would end up hating him and he had prepared himself for that. However, the past few weeks had proven to be more difficult than he thought. He considered leaving Japan and going back to England, but now that he had gotten to know her in person, he didn't want to be away from her.

Daidouji had been trying her best to keep Sakura away from him and he didn't blame her. He had lied to Sakura and had hurt her in many ways, something that he had to live with for the rest of his life, but still, he couldn't bear to leave her.

Eriol had been watching Sakura from afar, hoping that she would be able to forgive him one day. He might never regain her trust, but he was willing to take whatever Sakura offered him; a friendship or even just someone to talk to when she had questions about magic. Many times, he stood behind the treelines, watching her as she sat alone on the bench, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. He had to stop himself from going to her, afraid that he wasn't welcome.

Earlier today, he had felt like playing the piano and headed over to the music room. As he sat behind the grand piano, he didn't have any particular song in mind, so he just let his fingers move across the keys. He was so lost in his own thoughts and emotions, he didn't even notice her presence, which for him, was saying a lot.

Eriol sighed. He knew that he had to pull himself together. He was aware that his guardians were worried about his state of mind lately. The lack of fights and arguments between them had been a pretty clear sign how they didn't want to upset him. They also had chosen to stay clear out of his way, which he really appreciated.

When the bell finally rang to signal the end of the school day, he calmly gathered his things and left.

***

"Why on earth did you agree to meet him at his house?!" Kero asked Sakura loudly after Sakura told him that they were going to Eriol's house.

"Uh, actually, it was my idea…" Sakura said sheepishly.

"Why on earth would you want to meet him at his house?!" Kero was even more confused.

"I don't know, Kero! I said it before I even realized it, okay? I'm going now, are you coming or not?" Sakura asked as she threw in her phone, her wallet, and her book of cards into a bag and held it open for Kero.

"You're not going to his house without me, Sakura!" Kero got into her bag, but popped his head out before Sakura could zip it. "Is Yue coming too?"

"I've told Yukito and he said he'll be there." Sakura told Kero, who then put his head inside the bag, allowing Sakura to zip it, but she left some gap so that Kero could still breathe. She picked up the bag, went downstairs, and soon, she was well on her way to Eriol's house.

They met Yukito at the front gate and headed to the house. The gate opened by itself, so they took it as an invitation and entered the gate.

Five minutes later, they found themselves sitting in the living room of the old house. Eriol was sitting in the red armchair with Spinel perched on the arm of the chair. Sakura and Yue sat on the couch and Kero was floating nearby. Nakuru sat across from them.

"Well? Are you going to tell us what's going on?" Kero asked Eriol, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he glared at him.

"Kero!" Sakura chided her guardian then turned to Eriol. "Sorry about that." She apologized for her guardian's behavior. Kero was upset at Eriol, but it wasn't an excuse to be rude to him.

"That's okay, Sakura. Don't worry about it." Eriol assured her. "And yes, Cerbe… I mean, Kero, I will tell you what's going on. But first, a little history lesson."

"A history lesson?" Kero looked at him suspiciously.

"Yes. And I believe that it would also answer your and Yue's questions." Eriol looked at him and Yue. "As you know, Clow often had visions of the future. Not only he could see the future, but he could also control it, to some extent, of course." Eriol started, his eyes moving to look at Sakura. "One of these visions was of a little girl, who would one day become the new Cardmistress."

Kero and Yue's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Yue was the first one to speak. "You mean, Clow knew all along about Sakura becoming the new Cardmistress?"

"Yes, he did. Why do you think Sakura has a pink staff? He made the staff specially for her." Eriol gave Sakura a gentle smile. Unconsciously, Sakura's hand moved to touch the key hanging around her neck.

"But Sakura found the book by accident! It was a coincidence… Wasn't it?" Kero looked like he was doubting his own memories now.

"You know what he said about coincidences, Kero." Eriol reminded the guardian.

"There's no such thing as coincidence." Kero said softly.

Eriol nodded. "Exactly. Anyway, since he knew that Sakura would be the next Cardmistress, he started to make… arrangements. Little coincidences that would lead her to find the book and capturing all the cards. I believe he has told you about it, has he not, Sakura?" Eriol asked.

Yue and Kero turned to their Mistress in surprise.

"Yes, after I captured all of the cards and defeated you, Yue." Sakura told her guardian. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I thought you both knew about it. But he didn't tell me much. Just that he had placed the cards in certain situations that allowed me to capture them. I didn't even know about the book, until just now."

"His arrangements went far beyond that." Eriol continued. "He also foresaw how Sakura's magic would draw its power from the stars and how she would have to transform the cards into Sakura cards, but she wouldn't be able to do it on her own."

"Why don't we remember any of this?" Yue asked. He was troubled greatly because he didn't remember Clow saying anything about this. "Did he… alter our memories?"

"Yes." Eriol held up his hand to stop Kero from interrupting. "He had to. He made you the guardians of the cards _and_ the new Cardmistress. If you had known beforehand about this, you wouldn't have done it the way he wanted it to be done."

Eriol lowered his hand before continuing. "As I was saying, Clow knew that Sakura would need help in transforming the cards, so he arranged for himself to be reincarnated, which is why I'm here. Everything that happened ever since I met you, Sakura, all of the troubles and situations that I have created, had been foretold by Clow and carried out by yours truly."

Sakura and her guardians stared at Eriol.

"All of these things… The book, the cards, you, everything… was pre-arranged? Like, did he tell you what to do?" Sakura was trying to wrap her head around it.

"Not exactly. Since I was Clow and I have his memories, I remember everything. I _knew_ what I was supposed to do. I knew that I'm supposed to help you change the cards and how to do it." Eriol explained.

"So, you do have Clow's magic?" Kero asked in clarification.

"Yes. His magic, his memories, his knowledge, his power, everything. I have his staff too. Well, I suppose it is my staff now." Eriol mused. "But I'm not Clow. I'm my own person, if that makes sense."

"It doesn't, not really." Kero said. "But I still don't understand, why are you telling us all these? What does this have to do with Sakura's Dad?"

"I'm getting there." Eriol paused as he considered his next words. "Like I said earlier, Clow made the arrangements to make sure that Sakura would be the next Cardmistress. He placed the book, the staff, and the both of you in your places, waiting for Sakura to be ready. He also reincarnated himself and I too, was waiting for Sakura to be ready. But he also made one final arrangement to make sure that Sakura would be the one, the only one, who could open the book and capture the cards." Eriol paused. "Clow placed a part of his soul into a baby. That baby, Sakura, was your father."

The room fell completely silent as everyone seemed to process what Eriol just said.

"What?" Sakura was the first to recover.

"In ensuring that you're the only one who could use the staff and the cards that he created, Clow had to make sure that you have similar magic with him. He accomplished this by splitting his soul into two and placing a part of himself into your father. Your father doesn't have any magic, nor does he have any of Clow's memory, but a part of Clow's soul _is_ inside him. The reason why my spell doesn't work on your father is because there's a part of him that is Clow and my magic doesn't work on myself, or a part of myself, no matter how small it is." Eriol finished off his explanation that left the rest of the room speechless.

"Sakura's father is Clow's reincarnation?" Out of all things, Kero certainly didn't expect this to be the answer.

"No, he's not. He has a part of Clow's soul, but he's not his reincarnation." Eriol answered.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sakura asked, almost accusingly.

"I don't think you'd want Daidouji or Syaoran to know about this, do you? It would be up to you, of course, to tell them about it. But I wouldn't have taken that choice from you."

Sakura was silent. No, she wouldn't want Tomoyo or Syaoran to know about this. It was a family matter after all. "Should I tell my Dad?"

"Again, that is entirely your choice." Eriol said. "You can decide whether you want to tell him or how much you want to tell him. I'll leave it up to you."

Sakura looked down at her clasped hands on her laps. Eriol's words indicated that he gave her the freedom to tell her father, not just about himself, but also about Eriol, about Clow and about magic. "I… I think he deserves to know. After all, this is part of himself. I haven't told him about magic, but maybe it's time to tell him about that too. Also Touya needs to know too, I think. Since he's already known about magic and all." Sakura lifted her face and looked at Eriol. "I'm just not sure how or where to start. Would it be okay if I ask for your help?"

Eriol was surprised at her request. "Yes, of course." He quickly agreed. "Just let me know what you need me to do and I'll help you."

"Thank you." Sakura flashed him a smile and he returned it easily.

"Right, so when do you want to tell him, Sakura?" Kero asked and then a thought popped into his head. "Ah, if you're going to tell him about magic, does it mean that I won't have to hide in your room anymore? That would be great!" Kero could already imagine how good it would be if he didn't have to hide anymore.

"Well, I mean, it would depend on how he would react to it, but I'm sure that it will be okay. As to when…" Sakura thought briefly. "How about this Saturday? Dad should be home all day. Will Touya be working, Yue?" Sakura asked her guardian.

"No, I believe he'll have some free time this weekend." Yue, or rather Yukito, knew of Touya's schedule.

"How about you, Eriol?" Sakura turned to him.

"Saturday works for me." Eriol didn't have anything else to do after all. He'd probably just stay at home and read.

"It's settled then!" Sakura clapped her hands together. "Well, it's getting late. We should be going. Thank you very much for telling us all these, Eriol." Sakura stood up, followed by Yue.

Eriol, too, got to his feet and said, "You're very welcome, Sakura."

Sakura and her guardians (Kero was inside her bag and Yue had turned back to Yukito) made their way to the door. Before she left, she turned to Eriol, smiled, and said, "See you tomorrow at school?"

Eriol couldn't stop himself from smiling at her words. "See you tomorrow, Sakura."

With that, Sakura and Yukito left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The next day, during lunch break, Sakura made her way to the bench behind the school. She sat down and opened her bento box and started eating. Tomoyo had a lunch meeting with her choir group and Sakura had used the opportunity to get some time for herself… or not.

"I know you're there, Eriol. Why don't you join me?" Sakura smiled slightly and asked without turning around.

She heard footsteps and then he stepped into her line of sight. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to bother you." Eriol had deliberately let his magical presence be known and left it to Sakura whether she wanted him to join her or not.

"That's ok. Here, sit down." Sakura gestured towards the empty space beside her. "I could use some company." ' _Someone who's not Tomoyo that is._ ' She continued silently. Tomoyo was her best friend, but her overbearing presence as of late was starting to get on Sakura's nerves.

Eriol sat down and opened his own lunchbox. "How are you, Sakura? I mean, after what I told you yesterday…"

"I'm fine, really. In fact, it was actually a good thing. I mean, even though I've done this for a couple of years now, yesterday showed me that there are still a lot of things that I don't understand about magic, even my own magic and my cards." Sakura had spent the rest of her evening thinking about what she had learned yesterday. She had some discussion with Kero about it too, but there was only so much that Kero could tell her, especially now that he knew that Clow had altered his memory. "Kero and Yue are not happy that Clow altered their memories, though." Sakura frowned.

"I'm afraid there was no way around it." Eriol said apologetically. "It was done for their own good, and for your sake as well. If Clow hadn't done it, it would have been more difficult for them to accept his death."

Sakura thought about it. "They wouldn't have accepted me as their new Mistress." She said quietly.

Eriol turned to her. "They have accepted you as their Mistress, Sakura. You don't have to worry about that. In fact, that was part of the reason why I created Ruby and Spinel."

"Huh?" Sakura looked at him questioningly.

"I knew that during our battle, Yue and Kero would've attacked me to defend you. That's why I had to create my own guardians." Eriol explained. "They are your guardians and they will protect you."

"But you're their Master, well, sort of…" Sakura said. She was still confused about the whole Clow/Eriol thing.

"I was, Clow was. Not anymore. Their allegiance has shifted to you, not just because you're the new Cardmistress, but also because they truly respect you, as Sakura." He told her kindly.

Sakura smiled. "Thank you for saying that. That really means a lot to me."

He just smiled at her and to her delight, it was the same smile that she used to see on his face. Somehow, it made her happy inside. "Speaking of which, I actually have another question for you. Well, actually I have some other questions, but this one is about Yue."

"Sure. Ask away…" Eriol said encouragingly.

"The other day, Yukito asked me about the memory lapses that he got when he turns into Yue. But I noticed that Akizuki doesn't seem to have the same problem. So, I'm wondering if it's possible to make Yukito remember things when he's Yue."

"Yes, it's possible. The reason why Yukito is getting those memory lapses is because his soul and Yue's soul have not bonded properly. When he was waiting for you, Yue had been sleeping and Yukito has his own life, his own soul. When Yue woke up and made himself known, they are two separate souls living inside one body. Yue existed before Yukito, so he can remember everything that Yukito does. As for Nakuru and Ruby, I fused their souls together so that they're both aware of each other's existence and every move."

Sakura looked amazed. "So, how to fuse Yukito and Yue's souls together?"

"I can do that for you if you and Yue wanted me to." Eriol offered.

"Oh, would you? I'll talk to them and see what they say. I think it would be good for Yukito. He won't be having memory lapses anymore and he doesn't have to change into Yue every time we need to talk about magic." Sakura said excitedly.

"Of course. Talk to them and just let me know if that's what you want." Eriol finished off the last of his food and then turned to her. His expression turned serious. "Sakura, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you."

Sakura saw his expression and her eyebrows furrowed in worry. "What is it?"

Eriol hesitated, wondering if it was too early, but he had to get this off his chest. "I want to apologize for everything that I've put you through in the past few months. It was never my intention to hurt you, but I did, and I truly am sorry about that. I hope that one day, you can forgive me."

Sakura was quiet as she considered his words. For a few moments, there was silence between them. Eriol thought that she might not want him there anymore, so he made to get up, but her words stopped him. "You didn't hurt me, Eriol. At first, I was confused, I didn't understand why you had to hide it from me. But I was never angry with you. I also thought about it a lot and especially after what you told me yesterday, I'm beginning to understand why you had to do it that way. You're right, I wasn't going to get better if you had just come up to me and told me to change the cards. What you did, you were actually helping me to be better and stronger, not just as a magician, but as a person. I learned a lot about myself and my magic because of you, and for that, I'm grateful. So, please don't apologize because there's really nothing to forgive."

Sakura turned to him and gave him a genuine smile. "However, like I mentioned earlier, there are still a lot more that I want to learn about my magic, my cards and what I can do. So, I…" She hesitated, not sure if he would even be willing to do this. "I know you said you'll be here to answer my questions, but I'm just wondering if you… err…" Sakura wasn't sure how to say it, but in the end she decided to just go straight to he point. "Would you teach me more about magic, about the cards, and other related things?"

Eriol was speechless. He certainly didn't expect that from her. He had expected anger and resentment, but not this. He just stared at her for a few seconds in disbelief.

Sakura took his silence as rejection. What was she thinking? Why would he want to do that? "I'm sorry. I mean, you don't have to. It's okay if you don't want to. After all, you've helped me a lot and I shouldn't ask for more." She quickly backpedaled.

"No, Sakura, Sorry, I'm just surprised. I thought you would hate me for what I did. I didn't expect you to want me to be your… mentor, for the lack of better word. But yes, it would be my pleasure to teach you more about magic." He quickly said to assure her. He couldn't believe it, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity, this chance that she had given to him, slip through his fingers.

Sakura smiled widely at him. "I'd love for you to be my mentor, Eriol. I mean, who else knows more about my magic other than you, right?"

He returned his smile, just as widely. "You'll be surprised at how much you actually know, Sakura."

And just like that, the awkwardness and the uncertainty that had been simmering between them in the past month or so melted away.

The bell rang and they got up from the bench and walked back to class together.

"Syaoran and Daidouji wouldn't like it though." Eriol commented lightly as they walked.

Sakura sighed. "I don't know what's going on with them, especially Tomoyo, honestly. She's been acting weird lately."

"They're just trying to protect you. From me." Eriol told her.

"From you? Why?" Sakura frowned.

"Because they don't like what I did to you." Eriol said. "They don't want you to get hurt. I don't blame them."

"I understand that they're upset, but you already explained that you're just helping me." They had reached the school hallway and were walking to their classroom.

"It doesn't matter, Sakura. It doesn't matter why I did it, what matters to them is that I did it." Eriol didn't want to cause a rift between Sakura and her friends. "I think it would be best if you let things cool off a little more before telling them about our… arrangement."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. But when can we talk then? If you haven't noticed, Tomoyo just wouldn't leave me alone. Yesterday I had to sneak around behind her back to find you." Sakura was happy with this newfound ease between them. It felt just like before the battle, but better. It was surprising at how easy it was for her to talk to him.

"The weekends, if you want. I don't have much to do on the weekends. I'd hate for you to sneak around behind their back just to meet up with me during lunch breaks." Eriol suggested. "But of course if you're busy on the weekends, we can come up with something else. It won't be like formal sessions, Sakura. We don't have to meet up formally or anything like that. We can just talk casually, you can ask me anything and I'll do my best to answer them."

"The weekends should be fine. I usually don't have much to do either, just some house chores." Sakura agreed. "We can work out the details as we go along?"

"Sure thing." Eriol hung back as they approached their classroom. "Go ahead. Wouldn't want them to find out about our little ruse too quickly, would we?"

Sakura giggled slightly, but she went ahead into their classroom. She sat down at her desk and Tomoyo immediately turned to her and asked, "Where were you, Sakura? I finished my meeting early, but I couldn't find you."

"Oh, I was… nowhere, really, I ate my lunch and then I just walked around." Sakura said as her eyes caught sight of Eriol entering the classroom. He went to his seat and sat down as if nothing happened.

Tomoyo looked at her suspiciously, but before she could say anything else, the teacher started the lesson and she turned her attention to the front of the class.

* * *

"Well, I suppose, if anyone could teach you about your magic, it would be him." Kero said after Sakura told him about the new arrangement that she had with Eriol. "I mean, nobody else in the world knows more about magic than him."

"You've mentioned several times now that Clow, and now Eriol, is the most powerful magician in the world. Just how powerful is he? Of course I've seen his magic and all, but I still can't quite understand it." Sakura asked curiously.

"Where to begin? Look at how he arranged for you to be the new Cardmistress. That alone took a lot of planning and magic, to create those circumstances. Not to mention, what he has done to help you change the cards. You know how he could control the weather, how he could move that giant piano without even being there and look at how he could put everyone to sleep and turn the sky dark. And he still had the energy to fight you." Kero said. "Let me put it this way, in order for Clow to create the cards, he had to master each of the magic first."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You mean… He could do what the cards can do, without the cards?"

"And more. So much more." Kero nodded. "Clow's, shall we say, specialities are elemental magic and time magic. Those are often considered as some of the strongest magic. While it's not uncommon for someone to master one elemental power, be it fire, air, water or earth, it's very rare to master two elements, let alone three. As far as I know, nobody has quite achieved that yet. And then, there's Eriol. He's a master of not one, not two, not three, but all four elements. Mind you, being able to use elemental magic is not the same with actually mastering it. If that wasn't enough, he has also mastered the time magic, which means that he could slow down or speed up the time or even stop it completely rather effortlessly." Kero paused. He then pointed at Sakura's key. "A magical item, such as a staff, wand, sword, or anything else is the magician's most important possession. It's used to channel their magic. That's why you need your staff in order to perform your magic, Sakura. There are some people who can perform magic without their magical item, but it's limited to some simple magic. But not Eriol. He's so good at his magic that he doesn't even need to use his staff all the time. He also created me and Yue, and then later on, Spinel and Ruby. You need so much more than The Create card to do that."

Sakura gaped at Kero. "Oh my gosh…" Sakura wasn't prepared for this. "How did he even get that good?"

"Clow didn't talk much about his childhood, but from what I understand, he came from two different lines of strong magic. His mother was of Eastern magic, and his father, Western magic. His unique lineage allowed him to learn, and then master, both lines of magic. On top of that, he's extremely gifted."

"Ok, so the point is, he is really powerful." Sakura concluded.

Kero agreed. "The thing is, he's not just the most powerful magician in the world, Sakura. They said he's the most powerful magician _of all time_. The greatest sorcerer that the world has _ever_ known. Which implies that nobody in the past, present or future would be able to surpass him."

"Oh, wow… I mean, that is…" Sakura was at loss of words.

"Point is, you do not want to mess with him." Kero said seriously.

"Point taken." Sakura said. "But that is a lot of power, Kero."

"It is. That's why I told you it is impossible for the kid to resist his magic. It would be impossible for _anyone_ to do that, except for your father, that is."

"I still can't believe that Dad has a part of Clow in him. That's really not what I expected at all. So, my magic, and Touya's too, came from Clow's directly?" Sakura wondered.

"In a way, yes. But you're not in any way related to Clow, because your dad is not." Kero said.

Their conversation was cut short by the doorbell.

"That must be Yukito. I asked him to come over today because I have something that I want to discuss with him." Sakura went downstairs and true enough, Yukito was standing at the front door. Sakura let him in and then they sat down in the living room. Since Fujitaka was away that evening, Kero joined them.

Sakura told Yukito about Eriol's offer to fuse Yukito and Yue's souls together. They discussed it, but in the end, they decided to put that plan on hold until they could talk to Eriol about the potential risks.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Dad, is it okay if my friend joined us for lunch today?" Sakura asked her Dad during breakfast.

"Of course, Sakura." Fujitaka smiled at her. "Which friend is this? Do I know them?" While Fujitaka gave a lot of liberty to his kids in terms of their social life, he still wanted to be informed of their friends.

"His name is Eriol Hiiragizawa. You've met him before. Blue hair, glasses? He helped me clean the yard one day a few months ago." Sakura described him to her dad.

Fujitaka looked thoughtful for a moment before his face lit up. "Oh yes, I remember him. He's such a polite young man."

"That he is." Sakura agreed.

"Well, then I'm looking forward to meeting him again." Fujitaka smiled widely.

When the doorbell rang, Sakura put the last of the plates on the dining table and made her way to the door. Yukito had arrived earlier and was hanging out with Touya in the living room.

Sakura opened the door and saw Eriol standing there, holding a fruit basket. "Good afternoon, Sakura." He greeted her politely. "Here's just a little something for you." He handed her the fruit basket.

"Hello, Eriol! Thank you! Come on in!" Sakura received the basket and stepped aside to let him in. He stepped inside, took off his shoes and slipped into the slippers that were provided by Sakura. She then led him to the living room.

Greetings were exchanged and soon, they sat around the dining table for lunch. After lunch, Eriol offered to help cleaning up, but Fujitaka told him that he didn't need to do that. Sakura led him to the living room and they sat down on the couch.

"How are we going to tell him?" Sakura asked him quietly.

"Why don't you start and I can help along the way?" Eriol suggested. After all, he would leave it to her to decide how much of it she wanted her father to know.

"Hm… It might be best to start from the beginning, from when I found the book? Just give him a general idea of what it is about, but maybe leave out all the dangerous stuff? Like when you made a grand piano chase me around the school?" Sakura grinned widely.

Eriol couldn't help but grinned back. It surprised him at how easy it was for Sakura to talk about what happened in the past few months. There was no hint of resentment whatsoever, of which he was very grateful and happy about. "You might want to show him the cards too and Kero."

"Yeah, Kero really hopes Dad is going to take it well so he won't have to be confined in my room all the time. What if he doesn't take it well?" Sakura was confident enough that her dad would take it well, but she couldn't be 100% sure.

"We'll deal with it when it comes to that." Eriol assured her.

"I'll get the book." Sakura said and then went upstairs to grab the pink book and inform Kero that they were going to tell Fujitaka soon.

After clean-up, Sakura told her dad that she had something important to tell him. Once again, the five of them sat around the dining table as Sakura began telling her father about her extracurricular activities in the past couple of years. She showed him the book, her staff, and the cards. She gave him a general overview about how she captured all the cards and about her guardians. Fujitaka was silent as he listened to his daughter's explanation, until Sakura told him about Yukito.

Fujitaka turned to younger man in surprise. "Yukito?"

Sakura nodded. "Would you like to meet Yue? And Kero too." She didn't want to overwhelm him, and they hadn't even gotten to the Clow part yet.

After a brief hesitation, Fujitaka nodded. Sakura got to her feet and went to get Kero, who was already waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

Sakura came back into the room carrying Kero in her arms and introduced him to her dad. "Dad, this is Kero. You might have seen him in my room."

Kero floated up from Sakura's grasp and nodded in greeting. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kinomoto." He said politely.

"That's your… stuffed mouse." Fujitaka had indeed seen Kero several times when he was in Sakura's room, but unlike Touya, he had never suspected him to be anything more than a stuffed animal.

To his credit, Kero didn't say anything when he was being referred to as a stuffed mouse although he could see Touya snickering.

"Uh…" Sakura looked sheepish. "This is not his actual form." She informed him. Sakura then turned to Yukito and nodded at him. Yukito stood up and transformed himself into Yue while Kero also transformed into his true form.

Fujitaka's eyes widened. "Wha…?" He stared at the yellow lion-like creature and the silver-haired man who was standing in Yukito's place.

"Dad, meet Yue." Sakura introduced her other guardian, who politely bowed to his Mistress' father.

"Maybe it's time to take a short break, Sakura." Eriol told her quietly. He could see that Fujitaka was starting to get overwhelmed and might need a little time to process all these before they could move on to the next part.

"Right." Sakura agreed. "Dad, are you okay?" She turned to look at her father with concern in her eyes.

Fujitaka was still staring at the two guardians before looking at Sakura. "How did you hide all these?" He then turned to his son. "Did you know?"

Touya nodded. "Only recently. Sakura never told me anything either."

"I didn't mean to keep you out of the loop, Dad. I'm sorry. I told Touya because of his relationship with Yukito and also because Touya has actually figured it out on his own." Sakura apologized. "I just didn't want you to worry."

Fujitaka was silent for a few moments. "So, why tell me now?"

"Because there's something that you need to know, about you." Sakura turned to her friend. "Which is also why Eriol is here."

Fujitaka then turned to the blue haired boy. "Eriol is a part of this too?"

"A big part, actually." Sakura said. "The cards, my staff, the book and these two are all created by the same man." Sakura started. She then told Fujitaka, and Touya too since he didn't know about this part either, about Clow Reed. As Sakura was telling them about Clow, Yue and Kero turned back into their false forms.

"Remember when you told us about the dark sky and how everyone fell asleep a few weeks ago?" Sakura asked.

Fujitaka nodded. "It was… magic?"

Sakura nodded. "It was magic. Those people fell asleep because they were put to sleep with a spell." Sakura paused. "Eriol's spell."

Fujitaka blinked. "Eriol is a magician too?" He figured the boy must have known about magic since he didn't even look surprised about what Sakura said and the guardians, but he didn't think that he also had magic of his own.

Sakura turned to Eriol. "Would you like to take over? I think you would be able to explain it better than I."

Eriol nodded and he told Fujitaka about how Clow reincarnated himself into Eriol and at the same time putting a part of his soul into Fujitaka as a baby. He didn't go into too much details, just enough to explain how Fujitaka was connected to it all.

"Wait a minute! So, you and Dad are related?!" Touya asked Eriol.

"No. Clow split his soul into two and put a small part of himself into your father, a separate part, thus it's no longer a part of myself." Eriol clarified.

"I don't understand…" Touya said honestly.

"It might sound like a confusing concept. But the mechanic is actually pretty simple. Clow split his soul into two different parts. However, the soul wasn't divided into equal parts. A small part of it went to you, Mr. Kinomoto, and the majority of it became me. That's why I have all of his memories and magic, but you do not. You are yourself and you exist with or without Clow's soul. He chose to put his soul into you when you were a baby, but if he hadn't, you'd still be a normal baby and would've grown into a normal person. The same thing can't be said about me. I wouldn't have existed at all." Eriol explained further.

"Still don't understand…" Touya said stubbornly. Fujitaka looked just as confused and Sakura was glad that she had asked Eriol to do the talking. To be honest, she didn't quite understand it either.

Eriol thought for a moment and then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, can you get me some water and two empty glasses, please?"

Sakura went to the kitchen and grabbed what he asked for; a pitcher of water and two glasses. She placed the items on the table in front of Eriol, wondering what he was going to do.

Eriol poured the water into one of the glasses but left the other one empty. "This glass," he pointed at the full glass, "is you, Mr. Kinomoto. You're a fully developed human being, with your own soul and everything." He then gestured to the empty glass. "This is supposed to be me. Empty, basically I don't exist. No water, no soul."

Eriol's hand then glowed slightly and the water inside the pitcher turned red. The rest of the room stared at the now-red water. "Imagine that the red water is Clow's soul. Now, you already exist, but Clow chose to," He lifted the pitcher and put a couple of drops of the red water into the full glass, "put just a little bit of his soul into you." They watched as the red water slowly turned the clear water into a slightly red water, but still quite clear. "You are still you, with your own soul, your own person, Clow's soul just became a small part of who you are." He then proceed to pour the red water into the empty glass. "And then, the rest of his soul went into this glass. I didn't exist before. There was no Eriol, but Clow became me." With that, he put the pitcher back on the table as the rest of them processed this. Slowly, but surely, everyone seemed to understand what he was trying to tell them.

"Well, that's definitely much better than what you told us the other day." Kero commented and Sakura had to agree with him.

"I see…" Fujitaka looked thoughtful. "So, I didn't fall asleep that night because…?"

"Because even though the Clow in you is small, it's enough to resist my magic." Eriol answered.

Fujitaka just nodded. "I understand now." He smiled.

Sakura's face broke into a smile too. It looked like her Dad was taking it well and for that, she was glad. It also felt good to finally be able to tell him about magic. Now she didn't need to sneak around behind his back or lie to him anymore.

"Thank you for trusting me with this, both of you." Fujitaka looked at both his daughter and Eriol. "It must have not been easy. But magic… I never thought that magic actually exists. Sure, there are evidences of it throughout history, but nobody knows for sure…" He trailed off and then looked sheepish. "Ah, I'm sorry. As a historian, I could get quite carried away when talking about the past."

"It's no problem, Mr. Kinomoto." Eriol smiled at him reassuringly. "Clow lived through some parts of history himself and since I have all of his memories, I too can understand how fascinating it could be, especially now that I'm living in a different time period than he did."

"It must be quite different, isn't it?" Fujitaka's face lit up. "If I may ask, in which time period did Mr. Clow live in?"

"Please, just Clow. And he lived through pretty much the second half of the 16th century, all the way to the early 19th century. As you can imagine, things have changed quite a lot since then." Eriol had a soft smile on his face, almost nostalgic.

Fujitaka looked excited now. "That is very fascinating, indeed." He didn't even question Clow's unusually long life. "Say, Eriol, is it okay if I talk to you about history from time to time?"

"Absolutely. It would be great to be able to talk about it with someone who actually understands the importance of history and how society developed throughout the different time periods." Eriol looked pretty excited himself.

"I completely agree. Many people just can't appreciate it enough." Fujitaka nodded his head.

Fujitaka then invited Eriol to join him in his study, saying that he had some pieces that he would want Eriol to take a look at. They disappeared into Fujitaka's study, leaving Touya, Sakura, Yukito and Kero in the living room.

"What just happened?" Kero asked in confusion.

"I don't know. But I think my dad and Eriol just became friends…?" Sakura was confused herself at the turns of events. "Anyway, it looks like you don't have to hide anymore, Kero. It's great, right? I mean, sure it's pretty unexpected, but all in all, I think it went well."

"It sure did, Sakura." Kero said happily. "Now I don't have to stay in your room all day and pretend to be an inanimate object whenever your dad is around."

"You mean… a stuffed mouse?" Touya asked with a smirk.

Kero turned to him with a glare. "How dare you!" He flew over to Touya and moved to hit him, but Touya grabbed him by the wings and held him mid-air.

"What's wrong, mouse? Can't reach me with your short mousey arms?" Touya taunted as the yellow guardian yelled and swung his little arms in the air in an attempt to hit Touya.

Yukito and Sakura sweat-dropped.

* * *

"That went well." Sakura commented some time later as she and Eriol sat on the couch. Fujitaka and Eriol had quite a lengthy discussion and the older man ended up inviting Eriol to stay for dinner as well, which he had accepted. Touya and Yukito had to leave for their part-time job. Fujitaka was still in his study, but Eriol joined Sakura in the living room.

"Better than expected." Eriol agreed.

"You and my dad… Who would've thought… But I mean, it makes sense. You remember history, basically lived through it, and my dad is a historian." Sakura said.

"Your dad is a very smart man and he knows his stuff very well. I enjoy talking to him." Eriol was pleased with how things turned out. Not only did he get to spend more time with Sakura, being her newly-appointed mentor and all, but he had a good time talking about history with her father as well. This, indeed, had turned to be so much better than what he'd expected.

"I'm glad." Sakura said. "My dad doesn't have many friends. Being a single dad with a fulltime job, he doesn't have much time to socialize with others. Besides, history is not exactly a subject that most people would find fascinating. Neither Touya nor I understand much of it, if at all. So, it's good that he can talk to you about it. Thank you." She gave him a grateful smile.

"My pleasure." Eriol smiled. "Personally, I find history to be very fascinating. Not only because I remember of it, but also because how important history is in life. There's a lot one could learn from history. In fact, everyday we are learning from history." He paused. "When you think about the word 'history', you'd think about what happened hundreds of years ago, but that's not quite true. What happened yesterday was history, what happened five minutes ago can be considered as history too. From when we were young, we've already learned about history. If you drink a bowl of soup and it's too hot that it burns your tongue, you blow on it and wait for it to cool down. The next time you have a bowl of soup, you know to wait for it to cool before you drink it. Did you not learn from history then? Sure, some people call it learning from experience, but it's basically the same thing."

"Ah, I never thought of it that way." Sakura was truly fascinated. She never thought of history to be that simple, but now that he mentioned it, she agreed with him.

"Everyday, we learn something new, from our own experiences or others'. The things that we see, we hear, we do, everything became a part of our history and we learn from them all."

Sakura was amazed. Was this how he planned to teach her? "Is, is this a lesson, Eriol?" She asked carefully.

"You could call it a lesson, or just a casual conversation." He smiled at her. "Like I told you, Sakura, it's not going to be anything formal. We could just talk about anything, even things that are not related to magic. Unfortunately, like your father, I too could get carried away sometimes. So, if it's not something that you'd like to discuss, please feel free to stop me and we can talk about something else."

Sakura shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'd like to talk to you about anything, magic or non-magic, and learn about other things too. But I don't know much about a lot of things, so I'm afraid it would be more of a one-sided conversation on your side." She blushed slightly. He was so smart and wise, which was not surprising given who he was, and Sakura felt like she would not be able to keep up with him.

"You'll learn more, Sakura. We'll take it slow and easy, okay? Feel free to stop me whenever you want to ask question or if I'm getting too carried away. I'll be learning from you just as much as you're learning from me." He assured her gently.

Sakura highly doubted that. "What could you possibly learn from me?"

"Don't underestimate yourself, Sakura. Everyone has something to offer." Eriol said with a kind smile.

"Thank you, Eriol. For saying that, and also for agreeing to teach me." Sakura found herself feeling excited about their upcoming 'lessons'.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Another month passed and Sakura and Eriol fell into a strange routine of avoiding each other at school and hanging out during the weekends. Tomoyo was still ignoring Eriol and keeping Sakura away from him, much to Sakura's frustration. If Tomoyo wanted to ignore him, that was her own business, but she thought it was ridiculous that she couldn't hangout with Eriol just because Tomoyo was upset with him.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo called her friend when she saw Sakura walking along the hallway.

Sakura turned and saw her friend running towards her. "Oh, good morning, Tomoyo!" Sakura greeted her. She waited for Tomoyo to catch up with her and the two of them walked to class together.

"Good morning, Syaoran!" Sakura greeted him as she put her bag on her desk.

"Morning." Syaoran greeted her.

"Sakura, do you have any plan for this Saturday? I'm thinking that we could go to the mall." Tomoyo said excitedly. "There's a new stationary store that just opened and I want to check it out."

Sakura hesitated. "Uh, okay. I'll have to check with my dad, but I'm sure it should be okay." She was supposed to meet Eriol on Saturday, as per their agreement, but she couldn't tell Tomoyo that. The past few Saturdays, she had been hanging out with Eriol, at her house, since apparently she wasn't the only one who wanted to hang out with him. It amused Sakura greatly that her dad was the one who asked her to invite Eriol to their house, week after week. Finally, with Eriol's permission, Sakura gave Fujitaka Eriol's email address so that he could contact him directly. However, as strange as it was, Sakura was glad to see how much her father was enjoying Eriol's company. Now _that_ was something that Sakura could relate and understand.

"Just let me know, okay?" Tomoyo said. "How about you, Li? Would you like to join us?" Tomoyo invited him.

"Ah, yeah, sure." Syaoran accepted the invitation.

"That's great! It's going to be fun!" Tomoyo clapped her hands together excitedly.

At lunch time, Sakura told Tomoyo that she needed to go to the bathroom, which she did and slipped into the back of the school afterwards. She found Eriol perched on a tree branch, eating his lunch. She was getting better at finding him now. He was either in the music room, at the back of the school, or hanging out with Yamazaki.

"Can't meet you this Saturday. Tomoyo wants to go to the mall. Will Sunday be ok?" Sakura asked.

"Sure. Don't worry too much about it. We don't have to meet every week." He said. "Are you sneaking behind her back again?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Not really. I told her I had to go to the bathroom, which I did. I just happen to take an innocent walk by the back of the school afterwards. Who knows what, or who, I might encounter during my walk." Sakura grinned up at him.

"Surely she would become suspicious. You're taking an awfully long time in the bathroom." He smirked. Sakura's grin got wider.

"Eh, what can I say, I ate something bad this morning, or last night." She replied easily. God, she was enjoying this way too much. He was so easy to talk to and she found herself enjoying their encounters more and more. She had missed talking to him after the battle, she just didn't realize how much. Now that they'd had everything out in the open, Sakura also noticed that he was becoming more relaxed around her.

"How dreadful…" Eriol said in mock horror, but then chuckled.

Sakura laughed lightly. "I should get going. Before she started looking for me in the bathroom." With that, she walked away.

* * *

"I have a proposition for you." Eriol said that Sunday. They were at his house, sitting in the living room. Eriol had been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now. He wanted to move their lessons to another level and he felt that she, too, was ready for more. He had been very pleased with her in the past weeks. She had received his lessons with an open-mind attitude and showed her own curiosity and willingness to learn. As Eriol had guessed, Sakura was a very curious person by nature and he was giving her a platform to explore her curiosity freely, which she did through her questions. She was hesitant at first, but as they got more comfortable with each other, she started asking more questions and even expressed her own views and opinions, which he highly encouraged. It didn't take him long to figure out her learning style and he had adjusted his teaching method accordingly. Sakura, while curious about almost everything, could easily get overwhelmed with too much information. Thus, instead of having long sessions, he gave her short bursts of information and let her build her own understanding around it. Sometimes she needed prompts and time to figure things out, but he had no problem giving her what she needed.

"What kind?" Sakura asked curiously as she took a bite into her cookie. "This is so good!" She munched on the cookie.

"Thank you. I baked it yesterday since you were hanging out with your friends at the mall." Eriol smiled at her. "But, yes, I have an idea. You could say no, or we can revisit it again at a later date if you're not sure. If you remember, I also want to help you get stronger and even though you've learned a lot so far, talking about things alone would not help you achieve that. You need more. So, I was thinking that maybe we could start training."

"Training?" Sakura looked at him curiously.

"Yes. It would be like a spar of a sort, a mock battle, if you will. Now, it's not going to be real and the goal is not to win. It's to help you get faster, to think on your feet during combat so that you know what to do in different situations. It would also give you a platform to channel your magic and energy. Your magic is growing and it's not good to keep it all inside. You need to use it, develop it. You'll fight against me, see if you can knock me off my feet." He grinned. "Another way to do it is to put you in certain situations. Think of it as… what I did during the months when I helped you change your cards, but instead of watching you from afar, I would be close by." He then looked at her seriously. "Now, Sakura, rest assured that everything will be very closely supervised and I will not let anything happen to you. Having said that, I also understand that this would require a lot of trust on your part and if you're not ready for it, we can either talk about this later or drop it altogether. It's up to you."

Sakura was silent as she considered his words. A training? She wasn't expecting this from him. To fight against him, but not really. How would that be like? After what Kero said about him and his power, Sakura did wonder what he could really do, and a training sounded like a good way to find out more about it, about him. Sakura hadn't asked him anything about himself because she felt that it would be inappropriate, at least for now. It was true that it would require trust, but Sakura found herself trusting him already, despite everything. "I think I'd like to try that, Eriol." She said after a few moments of silence. "I do trust you. You never let anything happen to me. Yes, you did put me in difficult situations, but I never got hurt, nobody did. So, I trust that you will not let anything happen to me during training."

Eriol looked at her and saw her sincerity and once again, he was surprised by how easily she had trusted him and he swore to himself that he wouldn't let her down. "Thank you. Now, if at any point you change your mind, you have to tell me and we'll stop, okay? I don't want you to force yourself to do something, anything, that you're not comfortable with."

"I understand." Sakura gave him a reassuring smile. "So, when do we begin?"

"We can start today, if you want to." He said.

"Okay!" Sakura agreed.

Five minutes later, Sakura and Eriol stood in his garden, facing each other.

"Summon your staff, Sakura." He instructed.

Sakura said her incantation and soon, she was standing there holding her pink staff. "How are we going to do this? Aren't you going to summon your own staff?"

"Not yet. I want to see what you've got first before we actually spar." Eriol took a few steps back. "Go on then… Attack me." He knew what she could do, but for now, he would just play defense.

"Um, what? But Eriol, I don't want to hurt you." Sakura hesitated then. What was he talking about?

"Don't worry about that. I think I'll manage." He assured her with a smile. "Whenever you're ready…"

Sakura was still hesitant, but then she remembered what Kero told her, that he had mastered the magic of every card. Surely that meant that he should be able to defend himself against them, right? "Watery!" Sakura cast her first card.

The Watery burst out of the card and headed towards Eriol, but he waved his hand and easily dismissed The Watery. Sakura gaped at him "Uh…"

"You're holding back, Sakura. That was feeble at best." He told her.

Sakura's grip around her staff tightened. She shifted into a fighting stance as she looked at him with determination in her eyes.

"Firey!" Sakura cast her Fire card and as it attacked him, Sakura cast another card, "Fly!" She had more or less figured that he would easily dismiss Firey too as he did Watery and she would have to think of something else. "Freeze!" Sakura cast next, hoping that The Freeze would be able to, well, freeze him. Eriol moved his arm and redirected the Freeze power to the ground beneath him, causing a part of the ground to freeze instead of himself.

Up in the air, Sakura was surprised that he could redirect the power of her cards. ' _My god… He can do that?_ ' "Shoot!" Sakura wasn't sure if it was a good idea to shoot fiery arrows at him, but she was running out of ideas.

Eriol conjured a shield to protect himself against The Shot's initial attack, but he knew this one particular card could be pretty relentless, so he switched his shield to a mirror to reflect the attack back to the card, who then retreated to her card form.

"Alright, I don't know what else to do." Sakura admitted as she lowered herself to the ground. "How did you even do all that?"

Eriol stood there, waiting for her to reach the ground. "Actually, that wasn't too bad. You did pretty good, using The Firey as a distraction. You're still slow, but all in all, not bad for your first try. Not bad at all."

"You just dismissed it." Sakura said somewhat petulantly as she landed softly on the ground in front of him.

"Did Kero or Yue tell you anything at all about Clow's, well, my magic?" Eriol asked as Sakura recalled her staff back into its key form.

"Kero mentioned that you're a master of elemental magic. Like all of them." Sakura said.

"I am. Do you understand what that means, Sakura?" He gestured for her to follow him and she did. He led her to a set of table and chairs and they both sat down.

"That you can control the elements?" Sakura guessed.

"Part of it, yes. But I can do more than that. Being able to control the elements means that I can dismiss it or redirect it back to you. Being their master means that I can bend the elements to my will." He explained. "I can also do this." Eriol held out his hand and a small ball of fire appeared on his palm, floating an inch or two above his hand.

Sakura looked at the small fire in amazement. A few seconds later, Eriol flicked his wrist and the fire disappeared.

"So, basically using elemental magic against you is useless?" Sakura now understood how he could easily dismiss Windy, Watery and Firey, all of which were elemental cards.

"Pretty much." He nodded. "Other than that, while you have turned your cards into Sakura cards, I still have some control over them, to certain extent." He continued.

Sakura looked surprised. "How?"

"They are Clow's creations, Sakura. To certain extent, they still regard him, me, as their Master, in a different sense of course." He said.

"You can use them?" She asked curiously.

"No, not in that sense. They're your cards now, only you can use them. Your staff is the only thing that can activate their power. But I can still… how do I put this?" Eriol looked for the correct word, "…communicate with them."

"Like, you can talk to them?" Sakura asked. She too talked to her cards sometimes, but of course they never directly replied to her, except for Mirror.

"Most of them don't talk, per se, as you've probably noticed too by now. They communicate in a different way." Eriol raised his hand and to Sakura's surprise, her cards floated out of her pocket to surround them. Eriol's hand glowed red and the cards glowed too, as if responding to his magic. "Do you feel that, Sakura?"

Sakura closed her eyes and small smile appeared on her face. "They're… happy." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "They recognize you, don't they?"

"Yes." Eriol had a gentle smile across his face now. "They know of Clow's magic and since I have his magic, they recognize me too."

Sakura's smile got bigger. "That's amazing, Eriol." She reached to touch one of the cards and it glowed brighter in response to her touch.

Eriol watched her tenderly. She was precious to him, more than she would ever know, but of course he couldn't tell her that. He knew Li Syaoran had set his eyes on Sakura and from the look of it, she cared deeply for him too. So, Eriol would have to content himself with being her mentor and her friend, anything that would make her happy, even though it was hurting him inside.

"It's getting late, Sakura. Come, I'll walk you home." Eriol told her. The sky was getting dark as the sun set below the horizon.

Sakura recalled her cards and turned to him. "Ah, no, you don't have to do that, Eriol. I can go home by myself." Sakura didn't want to trouble him.

"I insist." Eriol said, his tone brooked no argument, so Sakura relented.

They walked back to her house in silence, but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was actually a pretty comfortable one. Eriol had also insist that Sakura brought back some cookies for Kero, Touya and her dad.

Ten minutes later, they reached her house.

"Thank you for today." Sakura thanked him.

"You're welcome. See you tomorrow."

Sakura walked to her door and waved at him before getting inside.

"Training?" Kero asked Sakura after she told him and Yue about Eriol's idea.

"Yes. We tried it today. I was slow and it was bad, but he was being very nice about it." Sakura said. "You two don't have to worry. He won't let anything happen to me."

"We know that." Kero said. "Actually, I think it's a good idea. If he trains you himself, you'll definitely get stronger, Sakura."

Yue agreed. "It would be good for you." While he was still a little upset with Clow after what the magician did, he still wanted the best for his Mistress and being trained by Eriol himself was no small feat.

"I think so too." Sakura said happily.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Good morning!" Sakura said excitedly as she stepped into the classroom. She was on cleanup duty today and her partner for today was none other than Eriol himself.

"Good morning." Eriol smiled at her as he put the flowers into the vase on the teacher desk. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Oh, Yukito and Touya finally have some free time this Saturday. They want to talk to you about, you know…" Sakura didn't want to say it out loud in case someone heard her.

"Okay. Should I meet them at your house?" Eriol straightened up the tablecloth while Sakura started prepping the chalks near the blackboard.

"Sure thing. Dad will be home too." Sakura laughed then. "Dad, Yukito and me… You'll be busy." She grinned widely.

He chuckled lightly. "I'm looking forward to it."

The other students started arriving and they quickly finished up their works.

* * *

Sakura was reading her book during lunch time when Tomoyo came to sit by her on the bench.

"Sakura, do you want to hang out this Saturday?" Tomoyo asked. "We can go to the mall or a café."

Sakura was concentrating on her book and so she answered absent-mindedly. "Can't. Have a lesson on Saturday."

Tomoyo paused, then asked suspiciously. "What lesson?"

Sakura then realized what she had just said. She quickly turned to her friend and saw her frowning at her. "Ah, uhm… Tutoring." Sakura tried.

"What tutoring? Since when?" Tomoyo asked, her eyes narrowing. "Sakura, is there something that you're not telling me?"

Sakura didn't meet her eyes and that told Tomoyo more than words. "Sakura…?"

Sakura sighed, ' _Might as well tell her._ ' She thought. "Okay, okay. I've been meeting up with Eriol for lessons."

Tomoyo got to her feet. "You what?!"

"I think you're overreacting, Tomoyo." Sakura looked up at her friend.

"Why would you do that?" Tomoyo ignored her words. "After what he did to you!"

"He didn't do anything to me." Sakura remained calm.

"He… He hurt you!" Tomoyo couldn't believe that her friend would do this to herself. Tomoyo cared a lot about Sakura and she wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

"Where did you get that idea? He did no such thing!" Sakura defended her mentor as she too got to her feet. "Look, you're upset with him, okay, I get it. But I'm not and it doesn't mean that I can't hangout with him."

"All of those things that he did to you! Have you forgotten what he did?! He tried to crush you with the pia…" Tomoyo was cut off when Sakura placed her hand over Tomoyo's mouth.

"Shh… Lower your voice." Sakura warned her friend.

Tomoyo removed Sakura's hand, but she lowered her voice. "Sakura, getting mixed up with him again is not a good idea."

"I know you're worried and thank you for worrying about me, but I know what I'm doing and I also know that he won't hurt me." Sakura told her friend. "You've got to trust me, Tomoyo."

"It's not you that I don't trust, Sakura, it's him." Tomoyo said frankly.

"Well, I trust him." Sakura said simply.

Tomoyo looked at her friend intently. "Fine. But if hurt you again…"

"He won't." Sakura assured her friend. She didn't point out that there was nothing that Tomoyo could do if he did anyway.

* * *

"So, Tomoyo found out. My fault." Sakura told Eriol as they cleaned up the classroom after class. Sakura was sweeping the floor and he was cleaning the blackboard.

"Is that why she's been shooting daggers at me instead of just ignoring me as usual?" He asked lightly. "I hope I'm not giving you any trouble with your friends, Sakura." He would hate for Sakura to fight with her friends because of him.

"No, you're not. Tomoyo is overreacting about the whole thing. I'm getting a little frustrated myself." Sakura assured him.

"She cares deeply about you." He reminded her.

"I know, but she can't tell me who I can or can't hangout with." Sakura understood and appreciated her friend's concern, but she didn't appreciate being told what to do.

They finished up the cleanup and then walked home together. He walked with her until the intersection near her house before they parted way.

* * *

On Saturday, Eriol arrived at Sakura's house around noon. They had lunch together and by now, Kero had also been joining them for mealtime. At first, Fujitaka was a little taken aback, but he quickly got used to it.

After lunch, Eriol insisted on helping the cleanup. Fujitaka retired to his study and Touya and Yukito sat on the couch with Kero, watching TV, leaving Sakura and Eriol to do the cleanup.

"You really don't have to, you know…" Sakura told him as she washed the dishes and handed him the soapy plates to be rinsed.

"Of course I do, Sakura. I've been invited for meals here for a few times now. Please, this is the least that I can do." He said as he rinsed the plates and put them on the drying rack.

Sakura smiled at him and they finished off the last of the plates and joined the rest of the group on the couch.

"So, we've talked about it, but before we decide, we want to know about the risks." Touya started without preamble.

"Of course. That's completely understandable." Eriol agreed.

"Other than not having memory lapses anymore, is there any other benefit of fusing the souls together?" Touya wanted to know.

"Yukito will stop aging, that's one of the biggest things. Which means that he won't ever get old and die." Eriol told them. Sakura, Touya and Yukito stared at him in surprise.

"You mean, I'll stay like this? Forever?" Yukito asked. "I won't die?"

"There's a difference between immortality and invulnerability." Eriol said. "You'll be immortal, but not invulnerable. If you get hit by a car or get into a fatal accident, you and Yue could both die. But as long as you stay clear of danger, then yes, potentially you will live forever."

"What if we don't fuse the souls together?" Sakura asked. "When Yukito gets older, what would happen to Yue?"

"Yue will stop Yukito from dying, but not from aging. While Yukito will not die of old age, his human form will still get old and frail, up to the point that Yue will not be able to transform into Yukito anymore and he'll have to stay as Yue at all time."

Everyone was silent.

"What would be the biggest risk of fusing the souls together?" Touya asked.

"Nothing, actually. It would only be beneficial for both Yue and Yukito. Both of you will stay like this and there won't be any memory lapses anymore. You'll know what's happening when you're Yue and vice versa." He paused, "But there's a catch."

"Of course…" Touya muttered. "There's always a catch."

"Once the souls are fused together, they cannot be separated." Eriol said. "If one day you decide that you want to get separated from Yue, the only way to do it is to take away Yue's magic completely, putting him into a dormant state. This will also make Yukito mortal because there will be no more magic."

Sakura looked horrified. "You mean, like, kill him?"

"No." Eriol quickly assured her. "Yue will still be there, but he won't be able to manifest anymore. He will still be able to talk to you, through Yukito."

Once again, the room fell silent as they considered his words.

"What would you suggest?" Sakura finally asked Eriol.

Eriol thought about it for a moment. "I cannot make that decision for you, Sakura, or for Yue and Yukito. There are risks and benefits that all of you need to consider. If you fuse the souls together, Touya, you'll continue to age, but Yukito will not. But if you don't fuse the souls together, there will be memory lapses and one day, Yukito's physical body will not be able to contain the magic anymore. You also have to consider the fact that once the souls become one, they cannot be separated in the future."

"What if…" Sakura suddenly had an idea. "What if we put Yue's soul into something else? Like Kero."

"No, that will not work. Neither Yue nor Yukito will survive." Eriol said, much to Sakura's disappointment. "Unlike the Sun guardians, the Moon guardians cannot generate their own energy and need to feed off from others, including the host's soul. Their souls might not have bonded properly, but they're dependent of each other."

"So, there's really no way around it?" Sakura asked.

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry." Eriol said apologetically.

"We need more time to think about it." Touya finally decided after a while. Everyone else seemed to agree with him.

"Of course." Eriol understood. "It's a big decision. Do take your time."

* * *

For the next few weeks, things seemed to fall into routine. Sakura also had started to hangout with Eriol at school, on top of their weekly lessons and training sessions. Tomoyo wasn't happy about it, but she had backed off.

"Can I ask you a very personal question?" Sakura asked Eriol one day after their training session. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, of course." Sakura added quickly.

"Sure." Eriol agreed easily. This was the first time that Sakura actually expressed some curiosity about him as a person. This had somehow made him happy that she was actually interested, or curious about him.

"Uh, so, you mentioned that Clow used to live until the early 19th century before he reincarnated. That was a long time ago. Did he get reincarnated right away? I mean, did he become you right away? I guess, what I'm trying to ask is, how old are you?" Sakura had been curious about this, and other things too, but hadn't had the courage to ask him, afraid that she might offend him.

"I'm eleven, Sakura. The same age as you are. In fact, my birthday is just one week earlier than yours. Clow arranged it to be that way." Eriol answered.

Sakura looked at him with wide eyes. "For real?!"

"Yes, for real." Eriol laughed. "What, did you think I'm some old man?" He teased her.

Sakura blushed slightly. "Uh, no. I didn't mean it that way. I just… I mean, you're so wise and smart, I just…" Sakura stammered.

"Can't imagine me being eleven?" He asked her, his eyes twinkling with humour.

Sakura just nodded meekly. She was embarrassed now that she had thought that he was older than he looked.

"I wasn't born. I just… exist." Eriol offered more information as he noted her curiosity. "I don't have any parent. However, I was adopted by a magician couple in England. My adoptive father was from Japan, hence my name, and my adoptive mother was British. I'm a British myself."

"Was?" Sakura asked before she could stop herself.

"They both died a few years ago. Car accident." He explained.

"I'm sorry, Eriol." Sakura expressed her condolences.

"Thank you." He smiled at her. "They knew who I am, and they helped me quite a lot. I'm grateful for that."

"They sounded like good people." Sakura said kindly.

"They were. Being Clow's reincarnation is not easy, not just on me, but on them too, especially on them. They had to put up with my antics and strange behaviours." He chuckled at that.

"Did you… Did you know who you are from the beginning?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"No, not from the beginning. I was five when I started to remember who I was." Eriol said. "Took me almost a year to regain all of Clow's memories and power. Needless to say, I never had any childhood to speak of."

Sakura looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that, Eriol. It must have been difficult for you."

"It's okay, Sakura. I'm fine. I mean, once I've regained my memories, I stopped being a child anyway." He assured her. He was touched by her concern for him.

They were quiet for a while as they each was lost in their own thoughts.

"My Mom died when I was three." Sakura told him suddenly. "I never knew her. I never know how it's like to have a Mom. My Dad tried his best to raise me and Touya, and he did a great job. I couldn't ask for a better Dad, but it's not the same."

"I'm sorry." Now it was his turn to offer his condolences.

"Thanks." Sakura smiled sadly. "My Dad had to work hard to provide for us. He worked long hours and we have no other family, you see. Touya and I basically had to raise ourselves. Well, Touya had to raise himself and me." Sakura looked down at her clasped hands. "Sometimes, I wonder, if my Mom were still alive, I wonder how life would've been different for us." Sakura had never told anyone this, not even Tomoyo. But somehow, it was easy for her to tell Eriol about it. "Ah, I'm sorry, Eriol. I didn't mean to burden you with this."

"No, it's okay, Sakura. Thank you for sharing this with me. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. It must've been difficult to grow up without your Mom." Eriol said sincerely.

"I'm sort of used to it. I mean, she died when I was very little, so it's not like I got to know her. It's more difficult for Touya since she died when he was nine. For me, as far as I'm concerned, I only ever have a Dad and a big brother, no Mom." Sakura told him.

"They did a very good job though." Eriol said kindly. "I can see that your brother really cares about you."

"He's mean to me and calls me a monster, but I know that at the end of the day, he's still my big brother." Sakura said with a smile.

Suddenly, Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "Ah, Eriol, you mentioned that your birthday is a week before mine. Does that mean that we had our battle on your birthday?"

"Indeed." Eriol nodded. "I turned eleven on that day."

"That's not a good way to spend one's birthday." She frowned.

"Actually, I enjoyed that day. It was the day that you finally turned all of your cards." Eriol smiled at her.

"Well, next year, we'll have to do something nice to celebrate it, okay? She told him seriously. "We'll have a cake and everything."

"Okay." Eriol just said. She had surprised him yet again. For all his power and his intellect, Sakura had managed to surprise him again and again with her sincerity and her kindness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Do you have any plan for summer holiday?" Sakura asked. Summer holiday would start next week, and everyone was excited for that.

"No. I'll probably just stay at home, do some reading and gardening. How about you?" Eriol asked.

"No plan, but I'm looking forward to the summer festival." Sakura had always loved the summer festival. "I know! We should train more often since there's no school." Trainings had become part of their weekly routine now.

"Wouldn't you want to spend your holiday hanging out with your friends or relaxing?"

"Hm… Tomoyo will be away with her mom this year to visit some relatives in America. Syaoran would probably go back to Hong Kong too. As for the rest of them, they usually have their own plans. So, it's just you and me, I guess." Sakura explained.

"We can train or we can just hangout if you want." He said, happy that he could be spending more time together with her.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Sakura agreed excitedly. They continued to chat about the upcoming holiday.

* * *

Eriol and Sakura spent almost every day hanging out together during the summer holiday. They mostly hung out at each other's house, so much so that they'd become regular guest in each other's house and the rest of their households had gotten used to see them hanging out. Even Spinel had seemed to have warmed up to Sakura.

"Eriol!" Sakura called his name as she stepped out to his garden. Spinel had told her that his Master was in the garden, but Sakura couldn't see him anywhere.

"Up here, Sakura!" Eriol called her.

Sakura looked up and spotted him on the roof. "What are you doing up there?!"

Eriol jumped down and landed on his feet in front of Sakura, who was watching him with wide eyes. "I like it up there. The view is nice."

"You just… jumped? From the roof?" Sakura still couldn't believe it.

Eriol nodded. "I can jump pretty high. Or levitate." He explained.

Sakura just stared at him.

Eriol smiled and then he started to levitate. "Here, take my hand." He held out his hand to her. "I won't let you fall, Sakura." He added.

"I know." Sakura smiled and placed her hand in his. She wasn't a stranger to levitation since she could do it with The Float or The Fly cards, but to levitate without her card was something new to her.

Eriol brought them up to the roof.

"You're right. The view is really nice!" Sakura said happily as she looked around. Since the house itself was already on top of the hill, Sakura could see most of Tomoeda from here, along with a full view of Eriol's beautiful garden. "Your garden really looks beautiful from up here, Eriol."

"Thank you. I like working on it." He said with a smile and there was a hint of pride in his voice. They stood there for a few more minutes as Sakura took in the view.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I'm wondering if you'd like to go to the summer festival with me this weekend." Sakura said.

"Of course." He easily agreed. "I've never been, so it would be my first time."

"You're going to love it!" Sakura was excited. "There's food, games, fireworks!" She told him excitedly.

"Okay, okay. Slow down… Let's get you back on the ground first." He laughed lightly. She was practically bouncing on her feet and Eriol was worried she was going to slip.

"What? Oh yeah..." Sakura said sheepishly. She took his offered hand and they floated down to the ground.

Once they were safely on the ground, Sakura continued to tell him about the festival and what to expect. He listened to her chattering about it with a smile across his face.

* * *

"Let's get that!" Sakura said excitedly as they walked along the path in the summer festival. They stopped at the stall and got themselves some shaved ice with syrup.

"This is nice." Eriol said as he dug into the shaved ice.

"It's the best!" Sakura said as she too was busy with her own bowl. "What do you think of the festival so far?" Sakura asked curiously. The festival was crowded and was very lively and she, for one, enjoyed herself immensely, but she was curious about him because this was his first summer festival.

"I love it. Plenty of food." He gestured towards his bowl. "I, I like sweet things." He admitted. 'Candies, cakes, chocolate and the likes."

"Like Kero?" Sakura asked. It surprised her and delighted her at the same time. Slowly, but surely, as they got to know each other better, Sakura could start to see the kind of person Eriol was and it made her happy that she was learning more about him. She was aware that there was so much more to him that she could possibly learn, but she was happy that he was willing to let her in.

"Clow had horrible sweet tooth, something that I also inherit from him. Kero has the same sweet tooth, but Spinel does not, if you remember." He told her with a smile.

"Oh yeah… I remember." Sakura said. She certainly remembered what happened last year when Spinel went on a drunken spree during their school festival. "That was totally Kero's fault though."

"Kero didn't know. Spinel didn't want to spill my secrets either." Eriol said with a smile. It was more of an accident, but Spinel wasn't happy about it at all.

"Spinel is very loyal to you." Sakura observed. "Not that Nakuru wasn't, it's just Nakuru is, well… Nakuru."

Eriol smiled. "I created Spinel first and he was my only companion after my parents died. I guess, I was… lonely."

Sakura looked at him with sympathy. "I'm sorry, Eriol."

"It's okay, Sakura. Spinel is a good companion. He likes to read and expand his own knowledge. I created him that way so that I can have someone to play chess with or to have a discussion with." Eriol had created Spinel to be more like him in terms of his personality.

"He's always serious though." Sakura scooped up some shaved ice into her mouth.

"He's not fond of people. It was just the two of us for a while back then. So, he's a little protective of me." Eriol said.

"That's good, isn't it? Then you know he'll protect you no matter what." Sakura said.

"Yes, you're right." Eriol agreed as he ate his own shaved ice.

They played some games and ate more snacks. When it was time for fireworks, they stood together to watch it.

"Thanks for today, Sakura. I really enjoyed myself." Eriol told her as he walked her home. He didn't usually care too much about festivals, but to see it through her eyes had been a very enjoyable experience for him indeed.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." Sakura told him happily as they reached her house. "Good night, Eriol."

"Good night, Sakura." Eriol waited for her to get inside before walking home.

* * *

"Hi, Syaoran!" Sakura greeted her friend when she saw him eating lunch all by himself.

"Oh, hi Sakura." Syaoran greeted her back. It was only their third day back to school and they hadn't had the chance to talk.

"How was your trip to Hong Kong? How's Meiling doing?" Sakura asked as she sat down beside him and opened her lunchbox.

"Ah…" Syaoran was quiet. "Meiling is okay. We, um, we've broken up our engagement." Syaoran told her. He had called off their engagement months ago, but he hadn't told Sakura yet. Tomoyo, of course, knew of it, seeing that Meiling had spent that night crying in Tomoyo's house, but Sakura was unaware of it all. "Actually, we broke up a while back, but I didn't tell you because, well, because you were busy with changing the cards and everything."

Sakura looked surprised. "I'm sorry to hear that Syaoran. What happened?" She asked with concern in her voice. She then remembered Syaoran had been acting strange for a while now and now she understood why. ' _So, this is what's been bothering him._ ' Sakura thought. He had promised her that he would tell her what had been bothering him when it was all over, but he didn't get the chance to.

"It's nothing, Sakura. I…" Syaoran contemplated on telling her he felt but thought that this was not the time yet. "I just don't feel the same way about her, and I don't think it would be fair for her."

"I see… Are you okay?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm, I'm okay." Syaoran replied. He went to Hong Kong to announce to the rest of the family about it and they had been giving him a hard time, but in the end, they finally relented and let him go back to Japan.

"I'm glad." Sakura smiled at him brightly, making him blush.

They continued to talk, neither was unaware of Tomoyo hiding behind the bushes, watching them closely with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Today, we're going to learn about staff." Eriol said as he and Sakura sat in the garden. "Particularly, your staff."

"Huh?" Sakura's hand automatically went to her key around her neck.

"Every magician has something that's called their magical equipment, although for me, I prefer to call it a conduit." Eriol started.

"A conduit?" Sakura blinked.

"Yes. A conduit is an item that is used as a channel for your magic. As a magician, your conduit is the most important thing in your possession. A conduit can come in different forms, staff, swords, rings, or even the ever-so-classic magic wand." Eriol explained. "Without your staff, you can't perform any magic, even if you have the cards with you. At least, not yet."

Sakura frowned. "But Eriol, you don't always use your staff." She had noticed it during training and even Kero had mentioned it one time.

"I don't. One day, when you get strong enough, you'll also be able to perform staff-less magic and card-less magic. But for now, never, ever part with your staff unless you really have to." Eriol said seriously.

"Say, my staff is stolen, what happen then?" Sakura wondered. "Will they be able to use my staff?"

"No. Every conduit responds only to its owner's magical signature. Your staff only responds to you. Your magical signature doesn't lie, Sakura. It's unique only to you and your magic. Think of it as a magician's fingerprint. Everyone's magic and their magical signature is different. Everyone. Some people might have similar magic, but no two people have exactly the same magic. Once you've imprinted your magical signature to it, you'll be the only one who can use it, even after death." Eriol answered.

"After death?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. For example, Clow's staff. After his death, his staff became useless as nobody else other than Clow can use it. Until me. If I ever have any doubt whether I really am Clow's reincarnation, the fact that I can use his staff is proof enough. My magical signature is exactly the same with Clow's and the staff recognizes that, that's why it responds to me." Eriol said. "Thus proving that Clow and I are the one and the same."

"I see… So, even if someone steals my staff and know the incantation, they won't be able to use it?" Sakura clarified. "I guess, that's good to know?"

"Nobody else other than yourself will be able to use your staff. When Clow created your staff, he made sure that you're the only one who could imprint your magical signature to it. That's part of the reasons why he had put a part of his soul into your father." Eriol explained further.

"What if my staff is broken? What happens then?" Sakura asked.

"First, it takes a lot of power to break one's conduit, but it doesn't mean that it's unbreakable. You still have to take care of it and be careful. Technically, you could still use it as long as it's still somewhat intact, but if it's completely broken, then you'll have to make a new staff, although that is not recommended. Your original conduit would always be the best one." Eriol told her.

Sakura nodded. "I understand."

Eriol smiled. "Any question?"

Sakura thought about it for a moment. "Your incantation and mine, they're similar. Is that because Clow created my staff?"

"Yes, it's because we have similar line of magic. Clow created the cards, you're the Cardmistress, so the basic of our magic is the same." Eriol confirmed.

"Right, so we have similar magic, similar incantation, but different magical signatures." Sakura concluded.

"Exactly." Eriol nodded.

* * *

For the next few months, things were busy for Sakura and her friends as they focused on their study. Being in sixth grade, they would soon be graduating Elementary school and moved on to Junior High school.

"Are you ready for the finals?" Rika asked her friends. They were going to have their finals in three weeks' time.

"I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be ready." Sakura said honestly.

"Yeah, me too." Naoko said worriedly. "I'm excited for Junior High though. It's going to be different. We'll be teenagers!"

Her friends echoed her sentiment.

"It's good that all of us will go to the same Junior High. That means we can still be together." Tomoyo said with a smile.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Everyone is nervous about the finals, well, except for Hiiragizawa." Chiharu commented. "He doesn't seem to be worried about it at all, but then again, he's a straight A student, so I can see why he's not worried."

' _He knows so much more than all of us combined, of course he's not worried._ ' Sakura thought. ' _Although why does he even go to school in the first place then?_ ' Sakura wondered, making a mental note to ask him.

"Ah, I know!" Rika suddenly clapped her hands. "We should form a study group! That way, we can learn from each other."

"That's a good idea!" Naoko agreed. "If we can get Hiiragizawa to join the group, then we can ask him about the things that we don't understand."

"But would it be okay to have him and Takashi together in a study group?" Chiharu wondered. "They might end up not studying and spreading lies instead."

"Hm, you might be right..." Tomoyo nodded, along with the rest of the group. Eriol and Yamazaki were quite a famous pair. They hung out together and when they did, they would tell anyone who would listen about these strange facts and details. Chiharu usually was able to put a stop to it, but there were still some unsuspecting 'victims' that would fall for it, especially the younger students.

"Well, it's the finals, surely even they would take a break from it all." Rika said.

They started to discuss the details as to when and where they should study. In the end, they all agreed that they will study in the library, after school and whoever could make it was welcome to join.

* * *

"Study group?" Eriol asked her during lunch. Sakura had been tasked to check with him if he would be interested in joining the group.

"Yes, Rika came up with the idea and with the finals coming up, we all thought that it would be a great way to learn from each other. Since you're a straight A student, we're wondering if you'd like to join the group. It would be held in the library after school, but it's not like you have to join every session." Sakura explained to him.

"Sure, I'll join some days." He told her. "How are you with your study?"

"Uh… Fine, I guess. I'm a little nervous about math, but other than that, I should be fine." Sakura had been doing great so far, but some parts of math still stumped her sometimes. "That reminds me, I want to ask you, obviously you don't need to go to school, so why do you?"

"Because it's fun." He said with a smile. "Like I told you, being who I am, I didn't have any childhood to speak of, including school. I didn't go to school back in England. I was 'homeschooled', although not really. I came to Japan to help you with the cards, so I joined you in school. But then I also found that I'm enjoying myself. It's not quite a childhood, but it's still pretty fun."

Sakura contemplated his words. "I think I can see your point. I'm glad that you enjoy it. And it's a good thing that you're here, then you can help me with my math and science." Sakura told him happily and he smiled at her widely.

"Hm… Looks like I'm more than just your magic mentor then." He said teasingly.

"Of course you are." Sakura told him seriously. "You're one of my best friends, Eriol."

Eriol was stunned at her words. "Thank you. I'm glad to hear that, Sakura." He gave her a genuine smile, which she returned.

For the next three weeks, Sakura and her friends spent most of their time in the library, studying. Their study group got bigger and they all studied together for the finals. Eriol soon became the go-to guy when someone had any question that they didn't understand, and he ended up attending the study sessions regularly after the first couple of days just to help everyone else.

When the exam week finally arrived, they wished each other good luck and did their best.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Happy birthday!" Sakura said excitedly when he opened the door.

"Thank you, Sakura." Eriol thanked her with a smile and stepped aside to let her in.

Sakura stepped inside and Kero floated up from her bag.

"Happy birthday, Eriol!" He greeted the young mage.

"Thank you, Kero." Eriol thanked him.

They walked along the hallway into the kitchen area with Kero floating alongside them. "I baked you a cake. It's not the best, but I hope you'll like it." Sakura told him.

"I'm sure I will like it." Eriol told her, his smile got bigger.

"Sakura!" Nakuru greeted her from her place near the kitchen counter. "Are you here to celebrate Eriol's birthday? Oh hello, Kero."

"Hi, Nakuru. Yes, I am." Sakura put the box on the counter and turned to greet Spinel. "Hi, Spinel."

"Hello, Sakura." Spinel gave her a small smile in return of her own big smile. The cat-like creature had been warming up to her more and Sakura was very happy.

Soon, they were all sitting around the table, eating cake, and drinking tea, except for Spinel, of course.

"I can't believe that it's been a year since our battle." Sakura told Eriol later as they sat in the garden. Kero and the other guardians were hanging out somewhere in the house.

"Neither can I. Things have been quite different since then." Eriol nodded. A year ago, he had lost all hopes that Sakura would ever want to talk to him anymore and now, she had declared that he was one of her best friends, something that he certainly had not expected from her, but it was very much welcomed.

"You're right. Things are so different now. We're going to Junior High next week!" Sakura said excitedly.

"Just after your birthday." Eriol pointed out and Sakura giggled.

"Junior High… I wonder how that's going to be like." Sakura wondered aloud. "But at least we're all still going to the same school."

"Yes." Eriol said and then got to his feet. "Seeing that it's the anniversary of our battle, how about a spar?" He grinned.

"You're on!" Sakura jumped to her feet.

* * *

On Sakura's birthday, Tomoyo invited her, Kero and Syaoran to her house to celebrate Sakura's birthday together.

"Happy birthday, Sakura!" Tomoyo greeted her friend as Sakura showed up. "Li is already inside. Come on in."

They made their way to Tomoyo's siting room. When they entered, Syaoran stood up from the sofa.

"Happy birthday, Sakura." Syaoran said to Sakura.

"Thank you, Syaoran!" Sakura thanked him with a big smile on her face, making Syaoran blush slightly.

"C'mon, Sakura. Blow the candles!" Tomoyo said as she, Syaoran and Kero sat around the table where the birthday cake was.

Sakura blew the candles and they started to celebrate. They chatted all afternoon happily as they talked about starting Junior High in a few days.

"Thank you very much, Tomoyo!" Sakura thanked her friend as she and Syaoran were getting ready to leave.

"You're welcome, Sakura!" Tomoyo said. She was glad that Sakura and Syaoran seemed to have a good time as they talked and laughed together.

Sakura and Syaoran walked together until they reached the intersection.

"Thank you for celebrating my birthday with me, Syaoran!" Sakura thanked him.

"Ah, of course. I had a great time." Syaoran smiled at her.

"Me too!" Sakura gave him a bright smile.

They parted ways and Sakura headed home to have a birthday dinner at home.

"I'm home!" Sakura announced as she entered her house. She went to the kitchen and found her father and Eriol in the kitchen.

"Oh, hi Sakura! Welcome home!" Fujitaka greeted her happily as he was preparing for dinner. Eriol had arrived earlier to help him bake Sakura's birthday cake. By then, Eriol had been a regular guest in the Kinomoto's household, just like she was a regular in his house. So much so that Sakura had given him his own slippers for him to wear when he visited. If he wasn't hanging out with Sakura, he would be spending his time there talking with Fujitaka.

"Happy birthday, Sakura." Eriol greeted her.

"Thanks, Eriol!" Sakura smiled widely at him.

Sakura, Eriol, Kero, Fujitaka, Touya and Yukito sat around the dining table having dinner together and then Fujitaka brought out the cake that he had baked for her. Sakura blew the candles for the second time that day.

"Ah, twelve." Touya said. "You know, that's when monster usually grows a lot on size. I can already see your feet getting bigger, Sakura."

"Touya!" Sakura shook her fists at her brother.

A couple of hours later, Sakura and Eriol stood outside the front door as he was getting ready to go home.

"Thanks for coming." Sakura thanked him sincerely.

"You're welcome." He smiled at her. He waved his hand and there was a single Cherry Blossom flower on his palm. "For you. Happy birthday."

Sakura blushed slightly, but she had a big smile on her face. "Thank you!" She took the flower from his hand and held it gently in her own hands.

"I'll see you on the first day of school. I'll wait for you at the intersection, okay?' Eriol said. Now that Touya had graduated high school and wouldn't be yelling at her to hurry up anymore, Sakura wanted to start waking up early so that she wouldn't be late for school. Eriol had offered to walk with her to school. That way, hopefully she would have more motivation to wake up early because if she were late, then he would be too.

"Are you sure you're okay with that? I mean, you don't have to." Sakura said worriedly.

"Of course." Eriol reassured her.

"Okay then. See you! Please be careful walking home." Sakura said. They bid each other good night and he left.

* * *

"Good morning everyone!" Sakura greeted her friends at the school gate.

"Good morning, Sakura!" Tomoyo greeted her with a big smile, but it faltered slightly when she saw Eriol walking beside Sakura.

Greetings were exchanged and they made their way to the assembly hall for the opening ceremony.

"I hope we're all in the same class together." Rika said afterwards as they walked to their potential classrooms to see which class they'd been assigned to. Much to their delight, everyone was still in the same class together.

"This is great!" Sakura said looking around. They even had similar seating arrangements, the only difference being Rika and Chiharu were seated at the other side of the classroom, away from the rest of the gang. In the last row and corner, Syaoran sat behind Sakura, with Eriol across from him and Tomoyo in front of Eriol, beside Sakura.

"You look so cute in the new uniform, Sakura!" Tomoyo said enthusiastically during lunch as she, Sakura and Syaoran sat together to eat their lunches. "Right, Li?"

Syaoran blushed at Tomoyo's comment. "Uhm, yeah." He mumbled.

"Thank you! You two look great too!" Sakura said with a big smile on her face, making Syaoran blush even more. Tomoyo smiled happily.

They ate lunch and chatted about their new school and how it was different from their elementary school in terms of the teachers, classmates, and the lessons.

* * *

_A few months later…_

"No!" Sakura cried as one of her wings was hit by a blast and she plummeted down to the ground. But instead of hitting the ground, she was caught by a whirlwind of air and was lowered gently on the ground.

"What are you doing? You're distracted." Eriol approached her.

"I'm sorry. I just…" Sakura got to her feet and looked down on the ground. "I'm sorry." She said again.

"Sakura, is everything okay?" Eriol noted her troubled look and was instantly worried about her.

Sakura let her staff turn back into a key. "I, I need to talk to you about something."

Eriol recalled his own staff and gestured towards the chairs and table.

They sat down and Sakura looked down at her clasped hands on her lap as she gathered her thoughts.

"I, it's about Syaoran…" Sakura started. "He, ah, yesterday, he said that he has feelings for me." Sakura finally said. "He said… He said that likes me and asked me to be his girlfriend." She continued. Because Sakura was looking down at her hands, she'd missed the pain that flashed across Eriol's face.

' _This is it. He finally told her and she's going to tell me that this would be the last of our sessions._ ' Eriol thought. The day that he dreaded the most had arrived. He knew this day was coming. He had prepared himself for this day, but nothing could prepare him for the pain that he was feeling right now. Never in his life, or in his previous life, had he ever felt this kind of pain before. But then again, he had never been in love either. ' _No wonder Clow had stayed away from love._ '

Eriol was fully aware that neither Syaoran nor Tomoyo liked the arrangement that he had with Sakura and the moment Sakura became Syaoran's girlfriend, he would do anything to prevent her from seeing Eriol again. As if that wasn't painful enough, he would have to watch from the sidelines as Syaoran would be the one who would make her smile, make her laugh, make her happy. ' _As long as she's happy, then I'm content._ ' He told himself.

_The day before…_

_For weeks now, Tomoyo had been pushing Syaoran to tell Sakura how he felt._

_"_ _It's the perfect time, Li! Then you two can spend the summer holiday together!" Tomoyo had said to him before she left for her own summer holiday with her mom and Syaoran had to admit, it would be nice if they could spend the holiday together, as a couple._

_"_ _Sakura, can I, can we talk? There's something important that I want to tell you." Syaoran had called her on the phone a week after the start of the summer holiday._

_"_ _Of course, Syaoran! Where do you want to meet?" Sakura asked._

_"_ _The Penguin Park. Can we meet like, now?" Syaoran had spent the entire day, no, the entire week building up his courage and if he had delayed it further, he was afraid that he would chicken out._

_"_ _Sure. I can be there in about ten minutes. See you soon!" Sakura hung up and then left to meet Syaoran._

_Ten minutes later, Sakura waved at Syaoran who was sitting on the swing, waiting for her. "Syaoran!" Sakura walked up to him. "Sorry I'm late."_

_"_ _Oh, it's okay." Syaoran stood up to face her and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest._

_"_ _So, what do you want to talk about?" Sakura asked._

_"_ _Sakura…" Syaoran started and took a deep breath before continuing, "I, I…"_

_Sakura looked at him curiously as she waited._

_Syaoran tried again. "Sakura, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?" He finally said it. He had said it in a rush, but Sakura had definitely heard him because she stood there and stared at him in shock._

_Present day…_

"I understand." Eriol said with a hint of resignation. He understood that it would be difficult for her to tell him that she wouldn't be seeing him again for training sessions. Sakura was kind that way, she wouldn't want to hurt his feelings.

Sakura looked up at him sharply. "You… You do?" She asked, a surprise look across her face.

"Of course. I'm glad that you're happy, Sakura. He's a good guy. He'll take care of you." Eriol forced himself to smile as he said this, but his heart clenched painfully inside his chest.

Sakura's surprise turned into confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You said he asked you to be his girlfriend? Is that not why you're distracted today?"

"Yes, he did. But that's not why I'm distracted today. I'm distracted because I feel really bad about it." Sakura told him.

"About…?" Eriol prompted. ' _What's going on?_ ' Eriol was confused now.

"I feel bad because I think I've hurt him when I rejected him." Sakura said.

Eriol blinked.

_The previous day…_

_"_ _Sakura? Please say something…" Syaoran said after a few seconds._

_"_ _I… Syaoran, I… I'm sorry." Sakura finally said after a few moments. "I, you're a great friend and I care about you so much, but I… not in that way. I'm so sorry." Sakura apologized again._

_"_ _Is it because of Yukito? That you still like him?" Syaoran didn't even know how he was feeling right now. He had been sure that she had liked him back, even Tomoyo had been sure too._

_"_ _No. It's just I don't feel the same way about you. That's all. It has nothing to do with Yukito or anyone else." Sakura tried to explain, but as she said it, an image of a certain blue haired boy appeared in her head._

_They had stood there awkwardly before Syaoran finally said, "I understand, Sakura. I'm sorry." And then he had walked away._

_Present day…_

"You… rejected him?" Eriol asked, not believing what he'd just heard. His ears must be playing tricks on him.

Sakura nodded. "I did. I can't accept his confession because I don't feel the same way about him. It won't be fair for him, and for me too." Sakura paused. "But I think I've hurt him. What should I do, Eriol? Syaoran is a good friend and I care about him a lot, but now I've probably lost a friend."

Eriol was silent as he tried to get over his shock and he thought of his answer carefully. "I think for now, there's nothing that you can do. Give him some time to think about it. Syaoran cares about you, Sakura. I don't think you've lost a friend. Things might not be easy at first, but you two have been friends for quite some time now, I'm sure it will be okay." Eriol said after a while. He wasn't one to take delight in other's misfortune, but a small part of him couldn't help but feel relieved that Sakura didn't feel the same way about Syaoran. Of course, it didn't mean that he would have a chance with her. For all he knew, Sakura also saw him as a friend and nothing more. But he had a chance now and he'd grasp at it with everything that he got.

Sakura thought about his words. "Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, things would be awkward at first, but I hope that he'll understand. Thank you, Eriol. I'm sorry again for being so distracted today."

"It's okay, Sakura." Eriol told her.

"Well, I suppose training's over for today. I got to go home and cook dinner." Sakura got to her feet and they walked to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow or the day after, ok?" Sakura said at the door as she slipped on her shoes.

"Okay." Eriol agreed and then bid her farewell.


	9. Chapter 9

For the rest of the summer holiday, Sakura didn't see Syaoran at all. He didn't try to contact her, so she didn't either, worried that she would only make things worse between them.

Just like the summer holiday of the previous year, Sakura spent most of her time either doing chores at home or hanging out with Eriol. They went to the summer festival again and had a great time.

"Sakura! Wake up!" Kero shook her shoulder.

"Ungh… Five more minutes…" Sakura mumbled.

"You and Eriol are going to be late!" Kero yelled at her.

Sakura shot up in bed and glanced at her alarm clock. "No!" She jumped out of bed and scrambled to get her uniforms. She quickly went to the bathroom to get ready for school and then ran downstairs.

"Good morning!" She greeted her Dad and Touya. "Morning, Mom." Sakura said to Nadeshiko's picture, as always.

"Morning, Sakura." Fujitaka greeted her as he handed her a sandwich, knowing that she wouldn't have time to eat breakfast.

"Late again? On the first day no less…" Touya said.

Sakura would've responded to him if she wasn't already late. "Bye!" She took her sandwich and left.

"Some things would never change…" Touya commented and Fujitaka just smiled.

"Morning, Eriol!" Sakura practically ran from her house to the intersection and spotted him waiting for her. "Sorry I'm late."

"Good morning, Sakura. It's okay, we still have time." They started walking. "Did you not have breakfast?" Eriol frowned as Sakura unwrapped her sandwich and started eating. She didn't like eating while walking, but she didn't have any choice today.

"Ah, I was really late." Sakura said sheepishly.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at school.

"Good morning, Sakura! Morning, Hiiragizawa." Tomoyo greeted them, slightly disappointed that Sakura was still coming to school with Eriol. She was hoping that Sakura would be coming with Syaoran instead.

"Morning, Daidouji." Eriol said politely before Yamazaki got his attention.

"Good morning, Tomoyo! How was your holiday?" Sakura greeted her friend. Tomoyo and her mother had gone to a month-long trip to China for Sonomi's business.

"It was great!" Tomoyo said. At the same time, Syaoran stepped into the classroom, just as the bell rang.

"Morning, Li!" Tomoyo said cheerfully.

"Morning…" Syaoran put his bag on his desk and sat down. Tomoyo looked at Sakura who had suddenly fallen silent and then at Syaoran who was looking at everywhere else but Sakura. Tomoyo was about to ask what had happened when the teacher came in.

* * *

Sakura was on her way to the bathroom when Tomoyo caught up with her. Wordlessly, Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her to the back of the school.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura protested. "I need to use the bathroom!"

"What happened between you and Li?" Tomoyo asked without preamble.

"Nothing." Sakura lied. Well, technically she wasn't lying. Nothing happened between her and Syaoran.

"You're lying." Tomoyo said. "If nothing happened, then why are you two acting so strangely?"

Sakura remained quiet.

"Sakura! You will tell me what's going on!" Tomoyo asked.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend and I said no." Sakura told her friend.

Tomoyo looked horrified. "Why?" She didn't understand. She thought Sakura liked Syaoran too.

"Because I don't feel the same way about him." Sakura said. She wasn't sure what to make of her situation with Syaoran just yet, the last thing she needed was Tomoyo getting involved in this too.

"But… Are you sure? Maybe you just need some time to think about it." Tomoyo tried to persuade her friend.

"No. Tomoyo, I don't feel the same way and it won't be fair for the both of us." Sakura said.

"He cares about you a lot, Sakura. I can see that." Tomoyo persisted.

"I care about him too, but not in that way. He's a great friend, Tomoyo, but nothing more." Sakura frowned, confused why Tomoyo was being so insistent about this.

"Maybe not yet. Maybe if you give him a chance…" Tomoyo kept trying.

"I don't think so." Sakura said firmly. "Why are you so persistent about this, Tomoyo?"

"Because you're my best friend and I care a lot about you, and I want what's best for you." Tomoyo said. "And I can see that Li really cares about you and he's going to make you happy."

Sakura was suddenly annoyed. "You don't know what's best for me, Tomoyo." She said to her before walking away.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo tried to go after her friend but thought better of it. Sakura just needed some time to cool down.

A few days passed and Sakura and Syaoran had not said a word to each other. On Sunday, Sakura was walking home from the grocery store when they met by accident on the street.

"Syaoran!" Sakura called his name and he stopped but didn't turn around. "I, can we please talk?" She asked, her tone pleading.

Syaoran was quiet for a moment, but then he turned to face her and nodded. Silently they made their way to the Penguin Park and sat down on the bench.

"I'm sorry." Sakura started. "I'm sorry I've hurt you. I didn't mean to. We, we went through a lot together, we fought together, capturing the cards, changing the cards, you're always there with me through it all and I…" Sakura took a deep breath. "You're one of my closest friends, Syaoran and I'd hate to lose you, to lose our friendship."

Syaoran was silent as he seemed to think of her words. "I'm sorry too, Sakura. I guess, I've misinterpreted your feelings. I thought…" He paused. "Never mind what I thought. I, you're right, we've been through a lot together. I'd hate to throw away our friendship too. I hope, I hope that we can move past this." Syaoran said. He had thought a lot about this and while his feelings for her still stood, he realized that they had always been good friends and he'd hate to ruin it.

Sakura looked at him. "Thank you, Syaoran. Are we, are we okay now?" She asked hesitantly.

Syaoran gave her a small smile. "I think we are, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at that and held out her hand. "Friends?"

Syaoran looked at her offered hand and shook it. "Friends." He said firmly. It would take him some time to get over his feelings for her, but at least they were still friends.

"I'm glad!" Sakura's smile got wider.

* * *

"Good morning, Syaoran!" Sakura greeted him brightly the next morning in class.

"Morning, Sakura." Syaoran greeted her back. All in all, it was a good thing that they'd talked yesterday. Things had been awkward between them, but it looked like things were going to get better after this.

Their newfound ease wasn't lost to Tomoyo, but she didn't say anything, instead she chose to be a silent observer, for now.

"I see you and Li are talking again." Tomoyo said carefully during lunch.

"Oh yeah. We talked and cleared up a few things. We're friends and we both don't want to lose that." Sakura said as she ate her lunch.

"I'm glad to hear that, Sakura." Tomoyo said sincerely. Sakura had made it clear to her that she didn't want her involvement in this matter but looking at them now gave her an idea. She still hadn't given up on Syaoran and Sakura being together. She just had to do it in a more subtle way.

"Me too." Sakura nodded with a smile.

* * *

A few months passed and things were getting better between Sakura and Syaoran. They were pretty much back to normal, much to Tomoyo's delight. In turn, Tomoyo had started to push them together in not-too-subtle ways, much to Sakura's annoyance and frustration.

"I don't understand." Sakura told Eriol as she sat in one of the empty chairs in the music room during lunch break. "Why can't she just leave this alone? I mean, I've made it very clear to her that Syaoran and I are not going to happen, but she keeps on trying. Just the other day, she dragged me to his soccer practice just so that I can 'cheer for him'."

"She cares about you and just wants the best for you, Sakura." Eriol said as his fingers started to move across the piano keys.

Sakura fell quiet as he started playing. She loved listening to him play. As she sat here listening to him in the empty music room, it was as if he was playing for her and her alone, and that had made her very happy.

Sakura wanted to know him more, wanted to see more of those smiles of his and wanted to be closer to him. She was aware of it all, but didn't want to admit it, even to herself, because she was scared. She was scared that if she started to acknowledge it, everything that they had built in the past couple of years would be ruined. He was… Eriol, her mentor, her best friend. On top of that, he was Clow Reed's reincarnation and she was just Sakura. Who was she to be worthy of his affection? Why would he care about her that way? She was lucky enough to have this opportunity to get to know him and she didn't want to ruin that and put their friendship in jeopardy. It was better like this, to be his friend, his student, instead of taking the risk of losing him altogether. So, for now, she would just enjoy her time with him.

* * *

"How does it feel like?" Sakura asked Eriol as they sat in his garden. "To be Clow's reincarnation? To be the most powerful magician in the world." She had been curious about this but had held back because she didn't want to overstep her boundaries. But seeing that they had gotten much closer now, she decided to risk it.

Eriol contemplated on his answer. "It's… lonely." He said with a sad smile on his face. "Clow was a recluse. Being who he was, people tended to fear him or dislike him. He didn't have many friends and the few that he had, well, he lost them due to his long life. He was content, but it was a lonely existence. It's more or less the same for me. That's why he had created Yue and Kero, and I, Spinel and Ruby, to be our companions, more than anything."

"It must've been difficult for you." Sakura told him empathically. Her eyes were filled with sadness knowing that he had to live a lonely life.

"I told you that I'm the same age as you are, but being his reincarnation, I, my soul, is so much older than that." Eriol continued. "I never have any childhood, never know how it's like to be a child. Even Clow himself didn't have much of a childhood. His magic had developed so strongly since he was young, and he had dedicated his life to learn more about magic."

They were quiet for a few moments.

"I talk to Clow sometimes, you know." Eriol told Sakura suddenly.

"Eh?" Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"Clow and I, we're one and the same, but different. I'm my own person, with my own feelings and my own personalities. While we share a lot of characters and attributes, we're not exactly 100% the same. So, sometimes I talk to him. It started when I was very young. As I started to regain his memories, he was there to guide me. After all, I was only five at that time." Eriol said.

Sakura thought about it, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wrap her head around it. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Do you talk to him in your head or…?"

"Most of the times, yes, but other times, he appeared as, well, as a manifestation, a spirit." Eriol said. "Having all this knowledge, all this power, it's complicated. There are things that nobody else will ever understand, other than him that is, because he is me and I am him."

"That… makes sense." Sakura said. She supposed if anyone could understand him completely, it had to be Clow, because they're basically the same person. "So, is it like… talking to yourself?"

Eriol smiled. Sakura had a knack of making everything sound so simple. "Exactly. We have the same knowledge, the same memories, we're essentially the same person. So yes, basically I'm talking to myself. But this one can actually make an appearance as another person."

"I see." Sakura nodded in understanding. Sakura knew she would never ever fully understand him, but she hoped that as time went by, she hoped that she would understand him more and could be there for him, even as just a friend. "Eriol, you're not alone anymore, you know… You have friends now. Not just your guardians. You have Yamazaki and you have me. I might not be able to understand you, but I'm here for you if you need a friend or just someone to talk to, okay?"

Eriol's eyes widened slightly, but then he gave her a sincere smile. "Thank you, Sakura. That really means a lot to me."

Sakura smiled at him. It had hurt her heart to know that he was lonely, that he had nobody else and Sakura swore that she'd be here for him, as much as she could, for as long as he wanted her.

* * *

Months went by and Sakura was becoming more aware of her growing feelings for Eriol, but still, she had never said anything to anyone. They had gotten closer, partly thanks to Tomoyo. In her attempts to bring Sakura and Syaoran together, for god-knows-why, Tomoyo had inadvertently pushed Sakura and Eriol closer because Sakura was starting to actively avoid her and seek him out instead.

"Hiding from Daidouji again?" Syaoran asked Sakura as he spotted her in the library. Tomoyo was still being as persistent as ever to get Sakura and Syaoran together, that even Syaoran himself was feeling very uncomfortable. He and Sakura had built a different kind of relationship and he had enjoyed their new friendship and would hate to jeopardize it.

"It's like she has made it her life mission to get us together for some unknown reasons that I really don't understand." Sakura let her head drop to her folded arms.

"Neither do I." Syaoran sat down beside her. "It's getting weird now."

"You don't say…" Sakura tilted her head to the side to look at him. "I'm sorry she has dragged you into this whole thing."

"I'm already involved from the start." Syaoran pointed out. "I mean, thinking back, part of the reasons why I developed those feelings for you was because she kept mentioning it or hinting it."

Sakura frowned. "Did she really?"

Syaoran nodded. "Now that I've got a lot of time thinking about it, I think my feelings for you might not have developed that much if she hadn't mentioned it at all." It was strange to talk about his feelings for her like this, but this was how he knew that he had moved on. He didn't regret having those feelings for her. It was something that he could learn from after all.

"Hm…" Sakura straightened up. "That's strange, but still, I don't understand why she's being so stubborn about this."

Syaoran just shrugged. "What are you doing here anyway?" It wasn't like her to hide in the library.

"Studying." Sakura indicated the book that she was reading. "For the test tomorrow." Ever since they had gotten to the second year of Junior High, Sakura had found it a little harder to keep up with her study, especially for certain subjects. Her Dad and Eriol had been tutoring her, but she was also determined to learn on her own.

"Ah, me too." Syaoran placed his book on the table and opened it up and started reading. For the remainder of their lunch break, Sakura and Syaoran studied and discussed about their upcoming test.

* * *

Eriol took a deep breath as he prepared himself. After a few seconds, he said, "Sakura, I like you. Will you go out with me?"

"That's not too hard, isn't it Master? Now, all you need to do is to say it to her instead of your own reflection." Spinel said from his position on the sofa.

Eriol glared at his guardian slightly.

"It's starting to affect you. You're getting distracted. You have to tell her soon." Spinel told his Master matter-of-factly.

"Easy for you to say…" Eriol muttered. Being as powerful as he was, it was safe to say that Eriol didn't get nervous easily and he was not afraid of anything. But the thought of telling Sakura how he felt had made him nervous, and the possibility of her rejection was enough to terrify him. After what happened between her and Syaoran, Eriol was scared that he too, would meet the same fate. He had wanted to tell her how he felt, had felt that they had gotten close enough now that it would be safe enough for him to tell her, but he kept putting it off. He himself had thought that Sakura had liked Syaoran, but she hadn't. What if she didn't like him either?

But Spinel was right too. It had been affecting him and the closer they got, the more difficult it was for him to control his feelings. That had affected his judgement, and his magic too, in a way. It had disturbed him greatly, to the point that he was starting to have nightmares about her rejection. He couldn't go on like this for much longer. He had to tell her soon and he was planning to do it on his 14th birthday next week. Depending on her answer, it could be the best birthday, or the worst.

One week later, Sakura and Kero had come to Eriol's house to celebrate his birthday with him and his guardians. After the cake was eaten and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves, Nakuru had left for her part-time job, wishing him good luck, knowing that he had planned to tell Sakura how he felt that day.

Despite his outer appearance, Eriol had not enjoyed his birthday celebration. Sakura had brought a cake, just like she had for three years now, but for once, he couldn't really taste it. His stomach was in knots and his heart was pounding against his chest as he kept thinking about his upcoming confession to her. After they cleaned up, Sakura and Eriol went to his garden, leaving the guardians to their own devices.

"You're fourteen now and I will be too in a week. Time flies." Sakura told him as they sat on the grass enjoying the weather.

The weather had been very nice today. It was sunny and warm. Eriol looked up to the sky as he gathered up his courage. He could almost laugh at himself. He, the most powerful sorcerer there was, the reincarnation of the great Clow Reed himself, was terrified of telling a girl how he felt. But then again, she was not just any girl.

"Eriol?" Sakura's voice brought him back from his musing. He turned to see that she was looking at him questioningly.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?" He could feel his voice shaking slightly. ' _Get yourself together, Hiiragizawa._ ' He told himself.

"I was wondering if you would like to spar." She looked at him with concern. They had always sparred on his birthday, to commemorate their battle four years ago now.

"No, not today, Sakura." Eriol said. "I have something else in mind today."

"Oh?" Sakura looked excited. "A new training?"

"No. It's… I have something that I want to talk to you about." Eriol told her.

Sakura's excitement turned into concern. "What is it?" She had noticed that he wasn't being himself today. He had not smiled as much and was distracted throughout the day. It wasn't like him at all and it worried her.

Eriol turned his body slightly to face her. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it properly. He was going to say it to her face instead of to an empty air. "Sakura, do you remember our conversation a few months ago? When I told you that Clow and I are different in some ways?" Eriol asked her.

Sakura nodded. "Of course."

"I told you that while we share a lot of similarities, I have my own feelings." He paused and could feel his own face reddening. "That… That includes my feelings for you... Sakura, I really like you. Will you go out with me?"


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura stared at him in surprise for a second, and then she blushed deeply. "Eriol, I…" She had to stop talking to calm herself down slightly as she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She then saw his red cheeks and it had helped in calming herself down, knowing that she wasn't the only one who was affected by this. She tried again. "I, I like you too and yes, I, I'd love to go out with you." Sakura was aware that her voice was shaking as she said this. She was in disbelief. She had been harbouring feelings for him for so long now, and she couldn't believe that he felt the same way for her too.

Eriol's face broke into a big, relieved smile on her answer. "Thank you."

They looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

"You're blushing." Sakura said with a hint of laughter in her voice a few seconds later.

"I am not." He tried to deny it, but even as he said it, he could still feel the slight warmth on his face.

"So, does it mean that we are together now?" Sakura blushed more as she said it.

"If, if you want to." He said, not wanting to push, letting her decide where they were going to go from here.

Sakura nodded. "I guess we are then..." She said shyly as she looked at his face and she could feel warmth spread across her chest. ' _Oh my god! This is real!_ ' Sakura thought to herself, still in disbelief.

Eriol himself was in disbelief. He had braced himself for her rejection, telling himself that even if she rejected him, they could still be friends, like Sakura and Syaoran. He told himself he'd be okay. But when she told him she liked him too, he was so happy and relieved and million other feelings, feelings that he had never, ever felt before. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but he held himself back. ' _Play it cool, Hiiragizawa. You're going to scare her off._ ' He told himself.

"I can't believe I have a boyfriend…" Sakura said, more to herself.

"Imagine my surprise." Eriol muttered. "Two lifetimes of no relationship, and now I have a girlfriend. I can assure you, I'm definitely more surprised than you are." Eriol told her. They looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

Once they sobered up, Sakura thought of something and looked at him seriously. "Let's just enjoy it for ourselves for now."

"What do you mean?" Eriol asked curiously.

"Let's not tell anyone else about it just yet. Let it be our own little secret. If people find out, the guardians, Touya, Tomoyo… They'd want to get involved. I mean, look at what Tomoyo is doing right now. I just can't deal with that. And Touya…" Sakura didn't even want to think how her brother would react. "But of course, if you want to tell them, that's okay too. I just thought that since this is all new, even for us, we might want to navigate through it ourselves first, rather than having other people sticking their noses where they don't belong." Sakura didn't want to make it sound like she wanted to hide their relationship. She just didn't want to deal with other people's reaction right now and just wanted to enjoy some peaceful time with him as they navigated through this new relationship.

"It's kind of too late. Nakuru and Spinel already know about it and I don't think it's a good idea for you to hide it from your guardians either. But I agree about the others. Let's just enjoy it ourselves first before people start to meddle." Eriol agreed.

"You're right. The guardians deserve to know. Since Nakuru and Spinel already know, that leaves mine. I'm not sure about Yue's reaction, but I think he would keep it a secret if I ask him to. Kero though…" Sakura frowned. Kero sometimes spoke without thinking and he could accidentally spill any secret to anyone that he spoke to, including her Dad, Touya and Tomoyo.

"Kero could be a little impulsive, I agree. But he's loyal to you. Still, if you're not sure, you could always order him not to say anything." Eriol said.

That got her attention. "Order him?" Sakura now looked at him curiously.

"Yes. You know you can order your guardians to do or not to do something, right? They'll have no choice but to obey you." Eriol was surprised because it seemed like she didn't know about this. "They never told you?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed and her hand turned into a fist. "Those two! They never mentioned anything about it!"

"Must've slipped their minds." Eriol chuckled, but then said, "So, we agreed then? Just tell the guardians, but no one else?"

Sakura nodded. "I think that's for the best for now, especially Tomoyo. But we'll have to tolerate her trying to get me and Syaoran together. To be honest, it's getting old. Even Syaoran himself thinks so."

"She wouldn't like it when she finds out about us." Eriol was aware that Tomoyo didn't like him and didn't think that it was a good idea for Sakura to get involved with him.

"Honestly, what's her problem?" Sakura wondered, but she wasn't about to let herself dwell on that. Whatever Tomoyo's problem was, as long as she steered clear of this relationship, Sakura couldn't care less.

Eriol got to his feet and held his hand out to her. Sakura looked up at him, blushed slightly, but took it. Once she got to her feet, instead of letting go, Eriol kept her hand in his grasp. They looked down briefly at their joined hands and then smiled before they started to walk back into the house, holding hands.

They found Kero and Spinel in the living room. Kero was looking at his phone and Spinel was reading. The guardians looked up upon their entrance.

"Congratulations?" Spinel said as he took note of their joined hands.

Kero, however, was a little slow on the uptake. "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion, but then he too, noticed that Sakura and Eriol were holding hands. He flew up to them. "You two?!"

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

Kero narrowed his eyes. "I can't believe this!"

"You're totally overreacting." Sakura told him calmly. "We don't want other people to know just yet, so we'll appreciate it if you can keep this to yourself, Kero." Pause. "Or I can _order_ you to." She said slowly while glaring at him, daring him to challenge her.

Kero spluttered and then glared at Eriol. "I can't believe you told her!"

"And _I_ can't believe you didn't tell me!" Sakura scolded her guardian.

"I was…" Kero looked for an excuse. "I must've forgotten." He finally said lamely.

"That's got to be the lamest excuse in the history of excuses." Spinel commented.

Kero turned to the other guardian. "Shut up, Spinny!"

"Do not call me Spinny!" Spinel yelled.

Kero turned back to Sakura. "Fine, I won't tell anyone. There's no need to be all dramatic and order me."

Sakura looked at him. "You, Yue and I will have to have a talk about this, Kero. Also, I mean it. Do not tell anyone."

"I get it, I get it. Geeze…" Kero told his Mistress. "Give me some credits, will you?" The other three looked doubtful. "Really?!" Kero yelled.

"Well…" Sakura started. "You could be a little irresponsible sometimes."

"Irresponsible?! Me?!" Kero looked his Mistress in disbelief.

Kero spent the remainder of their visit sulking, much to the others' amusement.

* * *

Yue had looked somewhat embarrassed when his Mistress confronted him about his failure to inform her about her ability to issue them an order. "There's no excuse, Sakura. I'm sorry." He had apologized.

"That's okay, Yue. At least you apologize, unlike this one." Sakura gestured towards Kero who was still sulking. "Now, is there anything else that I need to know, or would I have to find out about them from Eriol too?"

Yue was quiet for a few seconds. "Nothing else, Sakura."

"Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, there's another reason why I've called you here." Sakura said. "What I'm about to tell you, Yukito wouldn't know, right?" She wanted to make sure first. Not that she didn't trust Yukito, but no one else had meant no one else other than their guardians.

"No. Our souls are not fused together. Whatever you're telling me, he wouldn't know." Yue, Yukito and Touya had decided that they would just leave this as it was, for now.

Sakura thought about how she was going to tell Yue. Unlike Kero, Yue could be a little unpredictable. "Earlier today, Eriol asked me out and now we're officially dating." Sakura started and stopped, wanting to see his reaction first.

The only indication that he was surprised by this was the slight widening of his eyes. "Dating?"

"Yes, like Touya and Yukito?" Sakura frowned. Did he not understand the concept of dating?

"I know what dating is, Sakura. But I just…" Yue was at loss of words. "You and Eriol?"

Sakura nodded. "The reason I'm telling you this is because you're my guardian and you deserve to know, all four of you. But we're not ready for other people to know just yet. So, I would appreciate it if you don't tell anyone else, especially Touya."

The room was silent for a moment. "I understand." Yue finally said. "I will not tell anyone else, not Touya, not Yukito."

Sakura smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you, Yue." Then she turned to Kero. "Come on Kero, I've asked Yukito to buy that chocolate cake that you like on his way here."

No reaction. Sakura sweat-dropped slightly.

"Why is he sulking anyway?" Yue asked curiously.

"I told him he could be a little irresponsible sometimes." Sakura explained.

"Well, you're not wrong." Yue commented.

"You're not helping, Yue." Sakura told him. "C'mon now, Kero. I'll even let you eat two slices and the pudding, how about that, hm?" She sweetened the deal, literally.

Kero turned to look at her suspiciously. "Two slices?" He asked. Sakura nodded. "And the pudding?" He clarified. Sakura nodded again. Kero smiled widely then. "Well, why didn't you say so, Sakura!" He flew over to her and Sakura held him in her arms.

* * *

For the remainder of their spring holiday, Sakura and Eriol hung out together everyday, mostly at his house though since they could be more at ease without having to hide their new relationship.

Just like the previous years, on her birthday, Sakura spent her day with her friends and her evening with her family, plus Eriol.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine." Eriol told her as he noted her anxiety on their way to school on their first day back to school.

"Tomoyo could be very observant sometimes. She found out pretty quickly about our arrangement a few years ago because I slipped. I have to be more careful this time." Sakura told him worriedly.

"You don't have to sneak behind her back to see me this time." He pointed out.

"You're right. This should be easier." Sakura nodded. "And if she finds out, she finds out. Not the end of the world. We'll deal with that."

He smiled and nodded.

They arrived at school and went to their new classroom.

"Good morning!" Sakura greeted her friends. ' _Act normal, Sakura. Act normal._ ' Sakura told herself.

Her friends greeted her, and Sakura put her bag on her desk. She glanced over at Eriol, but he was already busy talking to Yamazaki.

"Can't believe we'll be graduating next year!" Naoko said. "Then we'll be in High school!" They were in their third and last year of Junior High now.

Her friends nodded. "Pretty soon, we'll be in University, then get a job… Oh my…"

They continued to chat until the bell rang and they started class.

It had been two weeks since school started and Sakura was pleasantly surprised to find how easy it was to hide her relationship from everyone, Tomoyo included. Nobody seemed to suspect anything because Sakura and Eriol had been close even before they had started dating. As silly as it might be, Sakura felt some level of thrill, knowing that she and Eriol had their own secret that nobody else knew about. It made everything felt more special somehow. But of course, that wasn't the only secret that they had. There were many things that Eriol had told her that she would never tell anyone else, such as his parents, his childhood, his past and his relationship with Clow. Tomoyo also never knew about Sakura's father because Sakura wanted to keep that in the family.

Over the past few years, Sakura realized that her relationship with Tomoyo had changed. They used to share everything, but now, Sakura was keeping secrets from her. From her lessons with Eriol, to her father's secret, to now, her relationship. In the past, Sakura would've been excited to tell Tomoyo about having a boyfriend, but given the circumstances, Sakura was reluctant to tell her. Other than her new relationship, Sakura also started to stop sharing a few other things with her, although she didn't do it on purpose. In the past, whenever Sakura was excited about something new, such as a new book, things that she found cute or pretty, etc., she would share it with Tomoyo, but now, when something exciting happened, Sakura couldn't wait to tell Eriol instead, even before they started dating.

However, there was something that Sakura couldn't hide, even if she tried. It was her happiness. Being with Eriol had made her so happy, and sometimes she couldn't believe how happy she was.

"You've been especially cheerful these days, Sakura." Tomoyo observed.

"Well, it's out final year, Tomoyo. I'm just excited for High school." Sakura said. "Besides, we get to have a class trip this year. It's been forever since we had our last class trip."

Tomoyo frowned slightly. "We still have a whole year ahead of us though. But yes, the class trip is going to be exciting. When was the last time we had it?"

Sakura thought about it. "Uh, that trip to the ski resort in fifth grade, I think. We were supposed to go in sixth grade, but then there was that earthquake." She recalled. They had been disappointed when their class trip was cancelled at that time, but they had donated the money to the earthquake victims. At least, it was for a good cause.

"Right, the ski trip." Tomoyo said with a hint of sarcasm. "When you almost died."

"You're exaggerating." Sakura said. "Eriol was there and he wasn't going to let anything happen to me."

"It wouldn't have happened in the first place if it wasn't because of him." Tomoyo pointed out.

"Let's not talk about that anymore, okay?" Sakura put an end to it. She wasn't in the mood to argue with Tomoyo about what had happened during those months.

"Okay." Tomoyo agreed. They then spent the rest of their lunch break talking about the upcoming class trip and where they could be going.

A few days later, Sakura was sitting at her desk, reading, when Tomoyo showed her something. "Sakura, look at this!"

It was a poster for Teddy Bear exhibition the day after.

"I saw that yesterday, Tomoyo. It was in the paper too." Sakura nodded. She and Eriol had planned to go together, but it looked like their plan was going to change.

"We should go together!" Tomoyo said excitedly.

Sakura sighed resignedly. Now, they really had to throw their plan out of the window. Tomoyo knew that Sakura loved Teddy bears and wouldn't have missed this. Besides, even if she managed to come up with some excuses, there was still a possibility that Tomoyo would be going and then she would see her there anyway. "Okay, we'll go."

Tomoyo either didn't notice her lack of enthusiasm or chose to ignore it. "We can ask Li again. I'm sure he'd be happy to go. Oh, and I heard that everyone else is going too. We can all go together."

"Okay." Things were getting worse. If everyone was going, Eriol would spend more time with Yamazaki instead of her. That would suck. ' _So much for a date._ ' Sakura thought sullenly.

"It's settled then! I'll let everyone know!" With that, Tomoyo left and Sakura banged her head on her desk in frustration.

* * *

"She didn't even tell you! She left you out!" Sakura said angrily later on their way home. As Sakura had feared, Eriol had been excluded when Tomoyo said that she was going to tell 'everyone'. He had found out about it from Yamazaki instead.

"Maybe she didn't have the chance to. I didn't talk to her throughout the day." Eriol said patiently.

Sakura sighed and decided to let it go. "Dad will be making dinner tonight so I don't have to go home right away. Let's go to your house." Sakura suggested.

He agreed and they walked to his house together.

* * *

The next day, Sakura met her friends at he train station. She and Eriol had agreed not to go there together in case anyone got suspicious.

"Hey, guys!" Sakura greeted her friends as she reached them. Tomoyo, Chiharu, Yamazaki, Rika and Syaoran were all there.

"Hi, Sakura!" They greeted her.

"Right, we're just waiting for Naoko now." Tomoyo said.

Sakura was about to tell her that no, they were also waiting for Eriol, but Yamazaki beat her to it. "And Hiiragizawa too. I asked him to join us."

Tomoyo looked surprised, but she quickly hid it. Not fast enough though. Sakura saw it and it had confirmed her suspicion that Tomoyo had deliberately left him out and that had made her angrier. Even if Eriol wasn't Sakura's boyfriend, that was very petty of Tomoyo to have done that to any of their friends.

"You didn't tell him, Tomoyo?" Sakura couldn't stop herself. The day hadn't even started yet and now it was already ruined for her.

Tomoyo had the decency to look ashamed, but she said, "Oh, I must've forgotten."

' _The lamest excuse in the history of excuses._ ' Sakura thought of Spinel's words.

"Good morning everyone." Eriol appeared before she could say anything else.

They greeted him and he and Yamazaki quickly got to talking. He had glanced at her briefly, but he didn't say anything.

Naoko arrived a couple of minutes later and they went inside the station.

They arrived at the exhibition and Sakura's mood hadn't improved much. She had been ignoring Tomoyo throughout the train ride. Fortunately, Tomoyo seemed to have realized that she had done the wrong thing and she had left Sakura alone. Sakura was pretty sure she'd have snapped at her if Tomoyo had tried to talk to her. Unfortunately, she didn't have the chance to be alone with Eriol either seeing that they were part of the group.

"You okay?" Syaoran asked Sakura as they walked to the first exhibition.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Sakura said, but couldn't hide the annoyance in her voice.

"She didn't tell him, did she? Like on purpose." Syaoran said quietly. Syaoran too had noticed the animosity that Tomoyo had displayed towards the young mage and while Syaoran himself wasn't Eriol's biggest fan, even he had thought that it was too much.

"She didn't." Sakura told him shortly.

"Sakura, look!" Naoko had called Sakura, cutting their conversation short.

Sakura went to see what Naoko was showing her, forcing a smile onto her face. It wasn't her other friends' fault that she was in such a bad mood, so Sakura wasn't going to let her friends' day get ruined too.

They spent the first half of the morning looking around and as Sakura had thought, Eriol spent most of his time with Yamazaki, even going as far as giving some questionable facts to unsuspecting patrons, much to Chiharu's exasperation. Sakura watched as he and Yamazaki enthusiastically talked to some other visitors. ' _At least he's having fun._ ' She thought. Despite the strange nature of their friendship, Sakura was glad that Yamazaki had been a good friend for Eriol.

"Lies! Don't listen to them!" Chiharu told the family as she dragged Yamazaki away by his shirt collar, separating him from his partner-in-crime.

Eriol then turned to Sakura and smiled at her. That was when Sakura realized that he'd been trying to cheer her up all morning, despite not being able to talk to her alone. He must've sensed her mood. Sakura smiled back at him, letting him know that she was okay. Sakura had looked forward to this day and she wasn't going to let Tomoyo's pettiness ruin this day for her.

Since then, Sakura's mood had improved greatly, although she was still avoiding Tomoyo. It was a wonder how a simple smile from him had managed to change her mood so drastically.

After lunch, they decided to call it a day. They stopped by the souvenir shop, but Sakura didn't get anything because she saw that the items were quite expensive. Not surprising, considering this was an exhibition.

They rode the train back and had gone their separate ways.

Sakura and Eriol walked together as they were heading to the same direction anyway.

"Are you okay?" He asked after they had gotten a distance away from their friends. He had been wanting to talk to her all day but didn't have the chance.

"I am now." Sakura told him, but then she frowned. "She did in on purpose, you know." She remembered what Tomoyo had done and could feel her anger started to rise again.

"It's okay." He said simply.

"It's not okay, Eriol! That was so petty of her to have done that to you! You're a part of the group too and she has _deliberately_ left you out and for what?! To fulfill her own stupid agenda about getting me and Syaoran together?! Or was it because she was _still_ upset with you because you helped me change my cards _years_ ago?!" Sakura couldn't contain her anger and frustration.

"Easy, Sakura…" Eriol kept his voice calm. There was nobody else around them, but she was getting all worked up now.

Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself down. "She had treated you so badly in the past few year. Why are you defending her?"

"I'm not defending her. She does what she does for reasons that only she knows. If I, if we get angry every time someone does something that we don't like, that would be our loss, not theirs. Getting angry is okay, it's natural, but you also have to know how to choose your battles because not every battle is worth fighting for." He said calmly as they walked. "Yes, she might have treated me badly, but that was on her, not me. What's the point of me getting all riled up because of what she did? It would only prove her point, would it not? We cannot change how people think about us, Sakura, but we can choose how we react to it."

Sakura was silent as she listened to him. "I understand." She said after a few moments as she thought about what he had said. "You're right. I was so angry this morning because of what she did, and I almost ruined my own day even though I had been looking forward to this day. It was my loss, not hers."

"The day is not over yet. It might not be a proper date, but why don't we go to the ice cream place near your house?" Eriol said, trying to cheer her up. "Also, I have something for you." He then reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small clear plastic pouch containing a pair of hair ties with some Teddy bears on them. "Saw them in the gift shop and thought you'll like them." He presented it to her.

Sakura smiled brightly. "I love them! Thank you!" She took it from him and looked at it happily. "But Eriol, those things in the gift shop were so pricey. You shouldn't have spent your money on me."

"You're my girlfriend, Sakura, who else am I going to spend my money on?" He grinned at her widely.

Sakura had blushed at that. She carefully put his gift into her bag. "I really like them. Thank you very much!"

"I'm glad." He said.

They continued to walk and talk until they reached the ice cream shop.


	11. Chapter 11

"Sakura, can we talk?" Tomoyo asked her cautiously as she approached Sakura who was sitting alone on the bench waiting for Eriol to join her. He had to attend an emergency club meeting and had told her that he'd meet her at the back of the school afterwards.

"What do you want, Tomoyo?" Just because Sakura understood what Eriol was trying to tell her, it didn't mean that she wasn't still annoyed with her friend.

"I, I just want to apologize, for what happened on Saturday." Tomoyo said.

"You did leave him out on purpose then?" Sakura wanted her to admit it.

"Not on purpose, I just… didn't make the effort to tell him." Tomoyo admitted.

Sakura sighed. "Tomoyo, do you know why I was so upset on Saturday? It wasn't just because you left him out on purpose, but also because you wouldn't have done that to any of our friends. You're not that kind of person, so don't start now. I've known you for years and you're one of the kindest people that I've ever known, please don't change that, okay?"

Tomoyo was quiet for a few moments before saying, "I, I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't mean to upset you. You're right, I wouldn't have done that to anyone else. It was wrong of me to do that." Tomoyo apologized.

Sakura smiled at her. "Apology accepted." Sakura said. She wanted to point out that she wasn't the one whom Tomoyo should be apologizing to, but she thought better of it. Tomoyo would have to apologize to him on her own, not just because Sakura told her to.

They ended up spending the rest of the lunch break together and Sakura figured that Eriol must've been busy with his club meeting because he never did show up.

When the bell rang, Sakura and Tomoyo walked back to class and Sakura noticed that her boyfriend was still not back yet. When he finally did show up a few minutes later, he had looked unhappy, but Sakura couldn't ask him what was going on since the teacher had arrived and started the lesson.

* * *

"Is everything okay? Did you even have your lunch?" Sakura checked with him later when they were walking home form school. While it was no secret that they walked to school together, Sakura usually left school with Tomoyo until the intersection near their school before going their separate ways. Eriol would usually be waiting for her at the next intersection.

"I didn't. The meeting went longer than expected. Sorry I didn't get to meet you." Eriol apologized. "The school informed us that the Go club is being disbanded due to lack of members." Eriol told her. He had been a member of the Go club since their first year and had enjoyed it. "So, starting tomorrow, we're officially moving to the soccer club."

"Soccer club?" Sakura asked in surprise. "Can't you join the art club instead?" Sakura had been in the art club since last year and it would be great if he could join her.

"I would if I could. But they didn't give us any choice. Apparently, the soccer club needs some members in order to compete in the inter-school match next month. As it happens, they need three more members to be qualified, so all three of us had to join that club. We think they disbanded our club so that we could be moved to the soccer club instead." Eriol told her with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"That's very bad…" Sakura frowned. "So does it mean you'll be having soccer practice after school from now on?"

"Yes. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Eriol informed her.

"My club is on Wednesdays. That's too bad." The Go club had been held on Wednesdays too, so they had been able to go home together, but now their club activities would be held on completely different days.

They arrived at Sakura's house.

"See you tomorrow!" Sakura waved at him before getting inside her house.

* * *

One month later, Sakura was walking back to her classroom when she overheard something.

"… just to watch Hiiragizawa practice, right?" A girl said. Upon hearing her boyfriend's name, Sakura stopped short and just stood there behind the corner.

"Oooh! You're blushing! You totally like him!" The same voice said teasingly, and Sakura's eyes widened. She slowly peered around the corners and saw three girls that she didn't recognize, most likely younger students. One of them was indeed blushing. She was cute, with brown eyes and brown hair.

"You should tell him." One of her friends suggested. "They're going to the inter-school match on Sunday. Then you can cheer him on."

"You think so?" The girl asked.

"Yes, of course! After all, you've been watching him practice for weeks now. I saw him looking at you the other day." One of them said and the other giggled. Sakura's mouth turned into a frown. She had watched him practice a couple of times herself. For a couple of years now, Tomoyo had been dragging her to soccer practice every now and then so that Sakura could watch Syaoran. Sakura had always been reluctant to go, but now that Eriol was in that club too, she was more willing to go, so that she could watch him. But Tomoyo didn't have to know that.

After a moment of silence, the girl seemed to have come to a decision. "You know what, I'll tell him today, after practice."

Her friends seemed to be thrilled with that idea and they started to chatter excitedly as they walked away, leaving Sakura standing there, hidden from view, in shock.

Sakura walked back to her classroom and sat down. Eriol was nowhere to be seen, most probably hanging out with Yamazaki somewhere.

"Sakura, do you want to watch the soccer practice today? They'll have a match on Sunday. So, Li said that they're going to practice today too even though it's Friday." Tomoyo asked. She had noticed that since Eriol had joined the club, Sakura was a little more willing to go, so she had asked her more often.

"Yeah, okay." Sakura said absent-mindedly.

Shortly after class, Eriol and Syaoran had disappeared to go to practice. Tomoyo and Sakura arrived at the field about ten minutes later and took their seats. Unconsciously, Sakura's eyes swept through the audience and found the girl sitting on the other side of the field.

Sakura turned her attention back to the field and saw the boys running around. She easily spotted Eriol. He was a striker and currently he was in control of the ball and was gearing up to score. He skillfully weaved his way past the defense team and then kicked the ball towards the goalie, scoring a goal. Sakura saw the other girl cheered and suddenly, she felt a tightness in her chest, and she felt herself getting annoyed for some reasons. So, Sakura turned her attention to Syaoran instead.

After practice was over, Sakura and Tomoyo left.

"Oh, hold on! I left my water bottle at the field! I'll be right back!" Tomoyo said before leaving. Sakura waited for her and a few minutes later, she was back.

They made their way towards the gate and just as they were about to reach the gate, they spotted Eriol at the courtyard, talking to a girl.

Sakura stopped involuntarily and her heart skipped a beat. That was the girl from before and they looked like they were in a serious conversation.

From their position, they could see the girl's face blushing as she spoke and Tomoyo immediately knew what was going on. "C'mon, Sakura. Let's give them some privacy." Tomoyo said and dragged her friend away. Inside, she was glad to see this turn of events. The girl looked cute and she hoped that Eriol would accept her confession. That way, he would be too busy with his new girlfriend to spend time with Sakura and her friend could focus on Syaoran instead.

Sakura didn't resist when Tomoyo dragged her away and she waved absently at her friend when they parted ways. Dazedly, Sakura walked back home as she kept replaying what she saw just now. The girl was cute, and she had been watching him practice for weeks now. Not that Sakura would think that he would've accepted her confession, but she couldn't stop the doubt from rising in her, combined with some strange feelings that she couldn't quite make sense of yet. ' _What if he said yes? Just to keep up with the ruse._ ' Sakura suddenly thought, but she quickly shook her head. ' _No, don't be silly, Sakura. He wouldn't do that to you._ ' She told herself. She had been moving so slowly and was so lost in thoughts she didn't realize that Eriol had caught up with her.

"Sakura?" Eriol tapped her on her shoulder, making her jump. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." He quickly apologized.

"I… It's okay." Sakura said, but she wasn't smiling.

"The match is on Sunday. Will you be going?" Eriol asked her, but Sakura kept quiet. "Sakura?" He looked at her.

"No, I don't think so." Sakura snapped, surprising him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, frowning.

"What did you say?" Sakura stopped and asked him, not able to contain her curiosity anymore. "What did you say to her?"

"So you knew." He had felt her presence earlier.

"Just answer the question, Eriol!" Sakura was suddenly angry.

"She asked me out, I said no." He said calmly.

"She's been watching you practice." She said quietly.

"I saw her a couple of times, yes." He confirmed.

"She's been cheering for you." She continued, just as quietly.

"Where is this going?" Eriol asked, his voice remained calm.

"Why didn't you say yes?" Sakura surprised herself when she said this.

Eriol too, was surprised at her words. "I'm sorry? Did you expect me to say yes?"

"I don't know! This is you! Who knows what's going on in your head? For all I know, you might have said yes just for the fun of it! After all, everything is just a game for you, isn't it?! How am I supposed to know that I'm not just another one of your game?!" Sakura honestly didn't know what had prompted her to say these things to him. She didn't even know what was going on with her, why she was feeling these strange feelings and why she was so angry. He already told her that he said no, what else did she want?

Eriol's eyes narrowed and when he spoke, his voice was quiet. "If you really think that shallow of me, then maybe we should reconsider this relationship and what it means." There was a hint of anger in his voice that had startled Sakura and snapped her out of her own anger.

"Eriol, I…" Sakura whispered softly.

But Eriol walked away, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the sidewalk.

Sakura stood there and watched his retreating back as tears were starting to make their way down her cheeks. ' _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ ' She scolded herself and wiped her tears angrily. ' _What have you done?!_ ' She wanted to chase him, wanted to explain herself to him, but instead she was rooted in place.

* * *

When Sakura got home, she went straight to her room and threw herself on her bed, burying her face in her pillow as she cried. Luckily, Kero was downstairs with Fujitaka, so Sakura didn't have to worry about him pestering her.

What had she done? He was her best friend, then more than that when he became her boyfriend. He had told her he liked her, had confessed his feelings for her and they'd been happy. But now she'd messed it all up and because of what? Because she didn't trust him? No, she realized. It wasn't because of that. It was because of her own guilt. That girl had been watching him practice, had been cheering for him, while it was supposed to be Sakura's job to do those things. That girl had been a better girlfriend than she was, even without being his girlfriend.

As she recalled his parting words, Sakura cried harder. She had truly messed up and now he probably wouldn't want to continue with their relationship anymore. She'd lost him and it was her own fault. She had lost her mentor, her best friend, her boyfriend, because she was being jealous. Yes, that had been it. She was jealous of some girl and she had taken it out on him instead.

Sakura heard a knock on the door and quickly wiped her tears. "Come in!"

Fujitaka opened the door and stepped into her room. He closed the door softly behind him and went to the bed to sit down.

"Hi, Dad." Sakura forced herself to smile, but she was sure that her Dad could see her tears.

"Problems with Eriol?" He asked gently.

Sakura's silence was enough to answer his question.

"Couples argue sometimes, Sakura." He continued since she didn't look like she was going to say anything. "That's part of being in a relationship."

For her part, Sakura stared at him with wide eyes. "You… You knew?"

Fujitaka nodded with a smile. "I have for a while now. Both of you have been very happy as of late, as happy as your mother and I were when we first started dating. It wasn't difficult to figure out."

Sakura gaped at him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I figured you'd tell me when you're ready, like with magic." Fujitaka said.

Sakura looked down. "Well, there's nothing to tell now. It's probably over."

"Want to talk about it? I don't mean to pry, but maybe I can help." Fujitaka said kindly.

So, Sakura told him. She told him about why they had been hiding their relationship. She told him about what had happened today. She told him about the girl, about what she had overheard and what she had seen and lastly, she told him about their argument and how she had single-handedly destroyed years of friendship and a happy relationship in less than a day.

"And it's all my fault. He has been taking care of me, has been so patient with me, but I… I said those things to him instead. It's over now. He wouldn't want to see me again." Sakura finally said with sadness in her eyes.

Fujitaka was silent as he considered his daughter's story. "I don't see Eriol to be the kind of person who would end things just because of one isolated incident."

"He was angry, Dad. I've never seen him angry before." Sakura said quietly as she recalled his anger. He didn't yell at her, didn't even raise his voice, but she could tell.

"You were both angry, Sakura. When one is angry, things were said." Fujitaka said. "But it doesn't mean that you end things just because you get into an argument. I think what you two have is much stronger than that. Like I said, arguments are part of a relationship. It's inevitable. You're two different people and even though he's who he is, he's still human after all, with feelings and thoughts."

Sakura nodded. "What should I do now?" She asked, at loss.

"You two have built this relationship based on a strong friendship, so talk to him, be honest with each other. Trust and honesty go a long way in a relationship, Sakura." Fujitaka advised.

"Do you think he'd want to talk to me?" Sakura asked with hesitation.

"I'm sure he will." Fujitaka smiled kindly at her.

Sakura smiled then. "I'll go talk to him first thing tomorrow. Maybe it's better to let him cool off for a bit and I need to think what I'm going to say too."

Fujitaka agreed. "Now, go and get changed. Dinner will be ready soon. I left Kero in the kitchen and I don't trust him not to finish off all the puddings."

Sakura laughed at that.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Touya asked in surprise when he saw Sakura was getting ready to leave right after breakfast. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, still in his pyjamas. This was Saturday and for once, he didn't have any shift today.

"Training." Sakura said shortly as she put on her shoes.

"At nine in the morning?" Touya asked doubtfully.

"Unlike you, Touya, I like to get my exercises bright and early." Sakura retorted.

For once Touya couldn't come up with a comeback, but he blamed his still sleepy brain for that.

"I'm going!" Sakura announced as she stepped out of the door, not waiting for her brother to think of a comeback.

Sakura made her way to Eriol's house up the hill. Usually, when she got there, the gate would've opened by itself. But this morning, the gate remained closed. Sakura stood there, waiting, but nothing happened. Sakura held onto the railings and tried to push, but as she had expected, the gate didn't budge.

Suddenly, a thought got into her head. ' _He is not opening the gate. He doesn't want to see me._ ' Eriol told her the house was filled with magic and while it wasn't exactly sentient, it could 'alert' Eriol if they had guests and he could then decide whether he wanted to open the gate or not. It was like a security system, but better.

Sakura paused as she thought about what she should do next. At first, she wanted to start yelling but thought that wouldn't have helped her case. In fact, it would only make matters worse. She took out her phone and called him, but he didn't pick up. Seeing that she had no other choice, Sakura decided to wait. She was determined to wait until he decided that he wanted to see her. She wouldn't give up. Sakura sat down on the ground then.

As she sat there, she couldn't help but think about her current predicament. After her talk with her father, Sakura had felt better. But what if her Dad was wrong? What if this was over? What if he had decided that she wasn't worth all the troubles? He had been very patient with her. He had put up with Tomoyo and her awful treatment of him. He had even put up with Tomoyo trying to get Sakura and Syaoran together, even though Sakura was his girlfriend. He never once complained about Tomoyo's behaviours.

Tears started to stream down her cheeks as she realized how selfish she had been and how awful she had been treating him. In some ways, she had even treated him worse than Tomoyo had. At least, Tomoyo had an excuse of disliking him, but what was her excuse? She was his _girlfriend_. She was supposed to be taking his side, was supposed to stand up for him. And yet, she had let her friend get away with so many things, dragging her to Syaoran's practice, playing match maker, and in some ways, she even let her friend get away with treating Eriol badly. And to top it off, she had the nerve to be jealous over nothing and accused him of those things yesterday, even after he made it clear that he wasn't interested in that girl.

Sakura took out her phone and tried his number again. She waited as it rang and rang, until it went into voicemail, telling her to leave a message.

"Eriol?" Sakura started, her voice breaking. "It's me. I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Please open the gate. I need to see you. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Sakura couldn't finish as she started crying. She hung up, hugged her knees, and started sobbing.

"Sakura?" Sakura heard his voice and looked up to see him standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Through her tears, Sakura could see that he was holding a few grocery bags in his hands.

"E… Eriol?" Sakura quickly scrambled to her feet. "I…" She looked back at the house and back at him.

"Why are you crying?" He asked her.

"The gate didn't open." Sakura said lamely.

"There's nobody home." He explained. "I went to get groceries, Nakuru has a morning shift in the café and Spinel is out exploring the woods." He paused. "How long have you been here?"

"I, I don't know. I tried calling you." She sniffled.

"I don't have my phone with me." He then walked past her, and the gate opened for him. "Are you coming?" He asked as she just stood there.

Sakura followed him meekly. They didn't talk and there was a tension in the air and Sakura didn't like that. He didn't look angry, or sound angry, but he wasn't smiling either. So, Sakura kept her head down and walked behind him.

They walked into the house, the front door had opened automatically for him too, and into the kitchen. He put away the groceries in silence as she stood there gathering her thoughts. Once he had put away the last of the groceries, he turned to face her.

"Why are you here?" He asked, his tone neutral and his expression unreadable.

"I… I want to apologize. For everything." Sakura said, looking down to the floor in shame. "First, I overstepped my boundaries." She continued. She had thought about what had happened and what she had done wrong. "Whatever conversation that you had with that girl was none of my business. I also have no right to say those things to you. I was angry because I should be the one who watch you practice, should be the one who cheer for you, but instead, that girl has done what I'm supposed to do and I got jealous. But it's all my own fault. I, I've let Tomoyo drag me around, let her treat you so badly. I'm supposed to be on your side, I'm supposed to stand up for you, but I didn't. In some ways, I've treated you in an even worse way than she has." Sakura could feel fresh tears starting to make their way down her face, but she was determined to finish what she had started. "You've been so patient with me and I've let you down, over and over again. I'm so sorry…" Sakura's voice was breaking. "If you, if you don't want to see me again, I, I understand."

There was silence and Sakura didn't know what to make of that, but she didn't dare to look up at him, afraid of what she might see. So, she kept her head down, scrunched up her eyes to try to stop the tears, and stood there, waiting for his decision.

Sakura felt his fingers under her chin, tilting up her face gently. She opened her eyes and saw him looking at her intently. "Sakura, I don't care." He started. "I don't care if you don't watch me practice, I don't care if you don't cheer for me. Those would be nice, yes, but those are not the most important thing for me. It doesn't matter who's watching me, who's cheering for me, as long as I know that you're with me." He used his thumb to wipe her tears gently. "You didn't overstep your boundaries. We're not just friends, we're in a relationship, and you have every right to know about that girl, and I was going to tell you. As for Daidouji, I know how much you value your friendship with her and that she means a lot to you. I don't want you to have to choose between me and her. You didn't let me down, Sakura. You never did. Ever since I met you, you have never let me down, not once." He paused. "As for what you said to me yesterday, you're right. Nobody knows what's going on inside my head, but all you need to do is ask. Sometimes, I might not tell you, but it's not because I don't trust you. I know it's not easy to be with me, so, please be patient with me."

Eriol took a deep breath as he prepared himself to say the next part. "Sakura, I have known you for so long, basically for all my life, even before I knew who I was, before Clow, even before magic. Clow made sure of that by putting you in my dreams to always remind me of what is important. He had wanted me to get to know you first before everything else, had wanted me to know that my purpose in life is to help you. I started dreaming of you when I was three, or maybe even earlier than that. But for as long as I can remember, you've always been in my dreams."

Sakura now looked surprised and confused at the same time, but she remained quiet.

"As I started to remember who I was, I knew of my destiny, of my duty, which is to help you change your cards. Clow had foreseen it, I, myself, have seen it in my own visions. Everything that I've done in my life up to that point when you changed the last of your cards, all of it have been foretold by my previous self. All, but one." Eriol took her hands in his and held them loosely. "Clow and I can see the future, but there's one thing that neither of us can predict. That is, we can never predict emotions. The matter of the heart will always remain a mystery for us. So, while he had predicted everything that would happen with you, with the cards, there's one thing that he didn't predict." He gave her hands a slight squeeze. "He never predicted that I would fall in love with you."

Sakura gaped at him. "What…?"

Apparently, he wasn't done yet. "I've told you, being me is a lonely existence. But seeing you in my dreams, it made things easier. Every day, I looked forward to seeing you in my dreams, and before I knew it, I've fallen in love with you. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I have loved you even before I met you and I will always do."

Sakura stared at him in shock.

"I love you, Sakura. I don't expect you to feel the same way, I don't expect you to say it. I just want you to know that. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to burden you with it. But after what you said yesterday, I want you to know that you're never just a game for me. Never have been, never will be." He finally finished off his little speech.

Once again, there was silence in the room as they stood there in the middle of his kitchen, holding hands.

"I…" Sakura started, but stopped. She blushed and then started again. He had been honest with her, so, she would be too. "Eriol, I don't know how I feel right now or how I'm going to feel in the future. All I know is that I want to be with you, I want to be here with you, everyday. All I know is that being with you makes me happy. All I know is that during those weeks after our battle, when we didn't talk, I missed talking to you, I missed seeing your smiles, I missed you, and I never want to go through that ever again. For now, that's all I know. For now, that's all I can tell you."

"And that is more than enough for me, Sakura." Eriol told her as he leaned down closer until their faces were just inches away. "May I?" He asked for her permission.

Sakura blushed brightly but nodded.

Eriol closed the gap and pressed his lips gently on hers. The kiss was chaste, shy, and gentle, just like a first kiss should be. It brought warmth into their hearts and Sakura swore she could feel herself floating. After just a few seconds, he pulled away and he had a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"May I make one more request?" He asked softly as he held her face in his hand.

Sakura just nodded; her head was still in the clouds because of his words and their kiss.

"May I call you Saku?" He asked.

"What?" Sakura asked dumbly. Out of all things, she didn't expect him to ask that.

"It's just, everyone else calls you Sakura and I just… I just want to have something special." Eriol blushed slightly. God, he'd been blushing a lot around her. "Don't worry though. I'll be very careful not to say it in front of anyone." He quickly added.

"Yes, you may. Just make sure you don't say it in front of anyone, ok? I don't want anyone else to start calling me Saku because that is only for you." Sakura saw his blush deepened slightly and smiled widely.

"Of course." He said seriously. "Saku." He added with a grin.

"My Dad knows, by the way. About us." Sakura said. "I managed to hide my magic for years and he didn't suspect a thing, but he found out about us almost as soon as we started dating."

"Your brother?" Eriol asked.

"No, I don't think so. I'm actually quite surprised that Kero has managed to keep his mouth shut for this long." Sakura thought of her guardian. "Maybe he's not as irresponsible as I thought he is."

"Despite his… irresponsibility and impulse, he's still a guardian." Eriol pointed out as he guided her to the living room.

"You've got to admit, sometimes, it's a little difficult to take him seriously, especially in his false form." Sakura told him as they entered the living room and sat down together on the sofa.

"So, going forward, are we going to keep up the ruse or do you want to start telling people?" Eriol asked curiously.

Sakura thought about it. "What do you think would be best?"

"Given how Daidouji is, maybe we should keep it for a little longer. Although on the flip side, the longer we keep it from her, the higher chance that she would get angry when she eventually finds out. And as for your brother, maybe it's time to tell him. But I prefer not to be in the room when he finds out." Eriol said. "In fact, I prefer not to be anywhere within his vicinity."

Sakura stared at him in surprise. "Are you afraid of Touya?"

"No, I'm not. But a punch in the face would still hurt." Eriol told her.

"He wouldn't!" Sakura spluttered, saw him raise his eyebrows, then said, "You're right. Stay as far away as possible."

They laughed lightly.

"I think I'm going to tell Touya and Yukito." Sakura decided after they sobered up. "They're family."

Eriol agreed.


	12. Chapter 12

"You what?!" Touya got to his feet and banged his hands on the table.

"I think you heard me." Sakura said as she looked at him.

"You and that English brat?!" Touya yelled. "There I was, worried about the Chinese brat, while that English brat stole you right in front of me."

"You're overreacting, Touya." Fujitaka told his son calmly.

"Yes, thank you, Dad." Sakura agreed with him and then turned to Touya. "You're making it a bigger deal than it really is, Touya. Nobody 'stole' me. And please do not call them brats, English or otherwise."

Touya turned to his Dad. "You knew?!"

"I've known for a while, but Sakura never told me." Fujitaka confirmed.

"And you're okay with this?!" Touya looked at his father in disbelief.

Fujitaka frowned slightly. "Well, if it wasn't Eriol, then I might have reacted differently. Although not as dramatic as you are now, of course." He finished off with a smile.

"Does Yue know?" Yukito asked as Touya continued to mutter about brats under his breath.

"He does. All of our guardians know. I'm sorry to have kept it from you, Yukito. I asked him not to say anything because we weren't ready for people to know." Sakura told Yukito.

"That's okay, Sakura. I understand." Yukito said with a smile.

"How long?" Touya asked.

"About a couple of months now, give or take." Sakura told him. "I'm happy, Touya. He takes a good care of me, so don't worry okay?" Sakura's voice turned gentler when she said this.

Touya looked at her for a while, but in the end, nodded. "Doesn't mean I'm happy about this, though. If he hurts you…" His hand turned into a fist.

"And there I was, wondering why he didn't to be in the room when I tell you." Sakura muttered.

"He's smart, I give him that." Touya smirked.

* * *

"How did it go?" Eriol asked her on the phone later that night.

"As well as expected." Sakura said. "He was yelling and everything, but all in all, no damage done."

"He's not banging on my door with a baseball bat, I'll take that as a positive." Eriol said laughingly.

"What time is your match tomorrow? I want to go and watch you play." Sakura regretted snapping at him yesterday, and she would go and watch him play tomorrow.

"It's at ten in the town's sports center." Eriol told her. "You don't worry about cheering for me, okay? Just come, I'll feel you and I'll know you're there."

"I will be there." Sakura smiled even though he couldn't see her. "But that's not fair. You can always feel my presence, but you can hide yours."

"What can I say? It's a perk of being me. You need to learn how to hide your presence though. I will teach you how to do that." Eriol smiled too.

They talked for a bit more and then hung up.

* * *

When Sakura arrived at the town's sports center the next morning, she saw that a bunch of her friends were there too, so she joined them. They went to the soccer field and looked for seats.

"Sakura!" Sakura turned when she heard her name and saw Nakuru waving at her enthusiastically. Sakura told her friends she's be right back and went to the guardian.

"Hi, Nakuru!" Sakura greeted her. "Here to see Eriol?"

Nakuru nodded. "You too?"

"Yes." Sakura said and noticed that Nakuru's bag shifted slightly. "Spinel?" Sakura asked quietly.

"He wouldn't miss it either. It's Eriol's first ever soccer match. Those are your friends?" Nakuru gestured toward Sakura's friends.

"Yeah, it's our school team, so we're all here to support everyone in the team." Sakura told her.

They chatted for a bit more before Sakura made her way back to her friends just before the match started.

Their school's team won the match with a final score of 3-2. Both teams bowed to each other and then they went inside to get changed as the audience started to disperse.

"They're so great!" One of Sakura's friends commented.

"Did you see how Li blocked that player and took the ball, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded and she was sure the rest of the audience saw it too.

"He's very good." Sakura acknowledged. Sometimes she wondered if Tomoyo was always so eager about Syaoran, then why didn't _she_ confess to him instead?

They made their way to the entrance and went their separate ways.

"Where are you going, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked her.

"Home. I haven't finished my homework for tomorrow." Sakura told her.

"Oh, okay." Tomoyo looked somewhat disappointed, but then they parted ways.

As Sakura walked along the street, she spotted Nakuru standing at the intersection, waving at her.

"That was a good match, right Sakura?" Nakuru commented.

"It was. Everyone did a good job." Sakura agreed.

Nakuru looked hesitant, but then she said, "Ah, Sakura, are you going to wait for Eriol?" At Sakura's nod, she continued, "Can I ask for a favor? I'm supposed to wait for Eriol so that Spinel can go home with him, but he's taking his sweet time and I'm almost late to my part-time job. Is it okay if I pass Spinel to you?"

"Of course, Nakuru." Sakura opened her bag and so did Nakuru. They moved Spinel from Nakuru's bag to Sakura's bag. After that, Nakuru left.

"You haven't done your homework?" Spinel's voice came from inside her bag. He saw Sakura had her books with her.

"Ah, no. I'm going to your house to do homework. There are some things that I don't understand." Sakura's weekly training sessions had somewhat turned into study sessions as Eriol helped her with school subjects and homework. She once lied to Tomoyo that she had tutoring on the weekends and it seemed that her lie had become a truth.

A few minutes later, Sakura spotted the soccer team exiting the building. They bid each other farewell and Sakura stood there, around the corner, hidden from view, waiting for Eriol.

"Hello." He greeted her as he stopped at the intersection. "Been waiting long?"

"Not really." Sakura said. "That was a good game."

"Thanks." He thanked her as they started walking. "And thank you for coming."

"You're welcome. A lot of our friends were there too. Everyone did a good job. Seeing how unhappy you were when you had to move to the soccer team a few weeks ago, you're a star now." Sakura commented. Out of the three goals that the team made, two of them were made by Eriol.

"The club isn't so bad. Everyone is nice and I'm part of the team too." Eriol said. "I was just disappointed that they disbanded the Go club."

Ten minutes later, they arrived at his house and Sakura let Spinel out of her bag as Eriol disappeared upstairs to take a shower. Sakura got settled down in the kitchen, sitting at the small dinner table there. While Eriol had a formal dining room, he preferred to eat his meals here when it was more casual.

Twenty minutes later, he joined her, and they started working on their homework.

"But I don't understand." Sakura said a few minutes later. "If x=5, then how did you come up with this solution?"

Eriol explained to her patiently how to work on the math problem.

An hour later, Sakura finally finished her homework. She laid her head down on the table, tired from all the thinking. Math really wasn't her strong suit and she found it increasingly difficult to keep up with it in class.

"I got your voicemail." Eriol suddenly said. Sakura lifted her head and looked at him questioningly. "The one that you left yesterday, when you cried." He clarified.

"Oh…" Sakura looked embarrassed. "I thought you didn't want to see me. You were quite angry on Friday. So, when the gate didn't open, I thought you didn't want to let me in. I never thought that there was nobody home." In her own miserable state, it never once occurred to her that nobody was home.

Silence, then he said, "No matter how angry I am with you, I will not do that to you, Saku. I might need some time to cool down, but I will not shut you out like that. Don't ever let me do that, okay?"

Sakura nodded. "I will not do that either. Let's make a promise." Sakura said as she held out her pinky to him.

He looked at her finger briefly and then hooked his own pinky around hers. "I promise." He said solemnly.

"I promise." Sakura said.

"I will never break my promises to you, Sakura. Every promise that I make to you, I will keep them." Eriol said seriously as he looked into her eyes.

"I will keep my promises to you too." Sakura told him sincerely. Then she said, "Let's make a pact. This way, we won't be taking our promises lightly and we won't be making promises just because we could. We will only make a promise when we really mean it."

"I promise that I will never break my promises to you." Eriol told her firmly.

"And I promise that I will never break my promises to you either." Sakura told him.

They looked at each other and then he kissed her.

"To seal it." He said afterwards as Sakura blushed furiously.

* * *

Touya glared at Eriol as they ate dinner together the next weekend at the Kinomoto house.

"We found an old book with some unknown language in my last dig. I want you to take a look at it, see if you can make out the language." Fujitaka said as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Of course, Fujitaka. I'd be happy too." Eriol said with a smile. He and Fujitaka had been on first name basis for the past couple of years now. Fujitaka had insisted.

After dinner, Touya and Yukito cleaned up, Fujitaka and Eriol disappeared into his study and Sakura plopped down on the sofa to watch TV with Kero.

"I'm so glad that it's now out in the open. I don't know how much longer I can keep up with the ruse." Kero commented to Sakura. "Your brother seems to take it quite well, all things considered."

"I agree. But we haven't told any of our friends yet, so you still have to keep it up when we're with Tomoyo, okay? Thank you for not saying anything, Kero." Sakura told her guardian sincerely. She wanted Kero to know that she really appreciated him.

Kero sighed. "Why though, Sakura? I thought Tomoyo would be happy for you."

Sakura was silent. She had never told Kero about Syaoran's confession a couple of years ago and how Tomoyo had been trying to get them together ever since. "I'll tell you later, okay?" Sakura said as she glanced at her brother. It was bad enough that Touya had been upset about Eriol, he definitely didn't need to know about Syaoran too.

A couple of hours later, Sakura told Kero about Syaoran.

"WHAT?!" Kero yelled.

"Shh… Keep your voice down." Sakura shushed her guardian.

"That brat!" Kero narrowed his eyes. "Does Eriol know?"

"He does. I told him. Tomoyo knows too. And that's why I don't want to tell her about me and Eriol. Tomoyo has been trying to get me together with Syaoran for some reasons and if she knows about Eriol, I don't know how she would react. I think I wouldn't put it past her to try to break us up." Sakura admitted.

"Hmm… I wonder why she's doing that." Kero looked thoughtful. "But even if she finds out, and tries to break you up, that won't work, right? You and Eriol won't break up just because Tomoyo says so, right?" Kero had seen how happy Sakura had been lately ever since she and Eriol got together. At first, Kero and Yue weren't sure what to expect, seeing that Clow had never been in any relationship before, let alone with a teenager, but they both agreed that he cared a lot about their Mistress and he made her happy and that was the most important thing for them. Besides, as Sakura's magic got stronger, she would need Eriol to guide her. No matter how you looked at it, their relationship was good for everyone involved.

"Of course not, but it would be a hassle to deal with that. Maybe even more than what we're dealing with right now." Sakura said.

* * *

"Summer holiday is coming!" Sakura said excitedly. This was their last day of school before summer holiday and as always, she was excited for the holiday. She skipped happily beside Eriol, who was watching her with a smile on his face.

"What should we do?" He asked. This was their first summer holiday as a couple and he was also looking forward to it.

"We should go to the usual ice cream place. I heard they have some new flavors, summer special, starting next week. Also they've finished the renovation for the amusement park, we should check it out too. Oh and of course, the summer festival!" Sakura chattered on as they walked. "So many things to do!"

Eriol smiled widened. "That sounds like a great plan."

They reached school and greeted their friends.

"Good morning, Syaoran!" Sakura greeted him with a big smile on her face. She wasn't the only one. Everyone seemed to have huge smiles on their faces.

"Good morning, Sakura!" Syaoran returned her smile as he sat down at his desk.

"What are you going to this summer? Are you going back to Hong Kong?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran nodded. "I am. What about you? Going somewhere?"

"No. Just staying here. My Dad doesn't really get any holiday during summer, so we can't really go anywhere." Sakura told him. Fujitaka would be busy at dig sites during summer. They didn't usually have any summer vacation, or any other vacation, really. And now that Touya was in university, he too had gotten even busier.

"We should hang out, Sakura." Tomoyo joined in their conversation.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere this year, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked her. For the past few years, Tomoyo had been away during summer holiday.

"Not this year." Tomoyo said.

They chatted until the teacher arrived and then they started their lesson.

The day went by and when the bell rang, everyone excitedly packed their bags and left. Sakura and Tomoyo had agreed to go to the baking supply store after school, so she had told Eriol not to wait for her.

"I'm so looking forward to the summer festival! I've missed it for the past few years." Tomoyo told Sakura as they made their way to the shop. "Have you been going, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded. "I have. I went with Eriol, Touya and Yukito. Last year, Kero even joined us." Sakura told her. She had stopped trying to hide the fact that she and Eriol were spending a lot of their time together. She wasn't going to tell her outright that they were dating, but she wasn't going to actively hide it either. Even though Eriol had said that he didn't want her to choose, Sakura refused to let Tomoyo bully her into doing something that she didn't want or let get away with treating Eriol badly. She was going to stand up for him, just like she should have from the beginning, even before they became an item.

"We should go together this year." Tomoyo said and Sakura nodded.

They arrived at the shop and bought some baking supplies.

* * *

"Fly!" Sakura used her fly card to evade the energy blast that was coming her way.

"Sakura!" Kero yelled from his position on the other side of the clearing.

"I'm fine!" Sakura shot up to the sky and glanced down at Eriol. He was standing on the ground, his magic circle underneath his feet as he moved his staff. He had put a shield around himself and was in the middle of opening a portal.

' _What a way to start the summer holiday._ ' Sakura thought as she flew around.

It was only the third day of their summer holiday. Sakura was in the middle of cleaning up after dinner when she had felt a strong magical presence, so she and Kero quickly left to check it out and were met by Eriol and his guardians near the woods. Yue met them shortly thereafter. Eriol said it was black magic and had told everyone to be very careful.

Sakura looked at their opponent. She was shooting energy blasts towards her and the guardians. Eriol had needed them to provide distraction as he opened a portal to banish the witch.

Suddenly, Sakura heard a cry and saw Kero was hit by a blast. "Kero!" She yelled for her guardian. She tried to make her way to him, and the witch saw that as an opportunity. She knew that she wouldn't win this fight. The young wizard was stronger than she was, but if she were going down, she would not go down alone.

She gathered up her energy and then take a shot at the young girl who was too distracted by her guardian.

Eriol saw the dark energy heading towards Sakura and he knew that she wouldn't be able to evade it. That much of energy would've been fatal for her. He jumped up from the ground and shield her using his own body. When the energy hit him, he cried out in pain before plummeting to the ground and landed with a loud thud.

"ERIOL!" Sakura cried his name.

"Master!" Spinel yelled and then blasted the witch who couldn't do anything to stop the blast, seeing that she had used most, if not all of her energy to the last blast. It hit her, but Spinel couldn't care less as he made his way to his fallen Master.

"Eriol!" Sakura dropped to the ground and cradled her boyfriend in her arms.

"The… portal." He rasped, his voice filled with pain. They needed to get the witch into the portal before it closed.

"Get her through the portal!" Yue yelled, noticing that the portal was closing. When Eriol passed out, it would close completely.

Ruby grabbed the now unconscious witch and threw her through the closing portal just in time before the portal closed.

"No, no… Eriol…" Sakura said frantically as Eriol fell unconscious in her arms. Her vision was blurred by tears. "No!" She resisted as Ruby pulled her away. Spinel was standing nearby and Yue was checking on Kero.

"Sakura, we need to get him back to the house." The pink haired guardian said, her voice surprisingly gentle as Yue and Kero made their way over to them.

Yue picked up the fourteen years old wizard from the ground. Ruby picked up the sobbing Sakura and then the four guardians shot up to the sky and flew to Eriol's house.


	13. Chapter 13

Sakura sat on Eriol's bedside, holding his hand, while the guardians stood around them.

"It's my fault… If only I was better, faster…" Sakura sobbed slightly.

"It's not your fault, Sakura. He was protecting you. If that energy had hit you, it would have been fatal for you. The only one at fault here is that witch." Spinel said.

"Is, is he going to be okay?" Sakura asked, tears in her voice and in her eyes.

The guardians were quiet for a moment before Yue said, "We don't know. Without knowing what kind of magic that was, there's no way to know for sure."

"Sakura, it's getting late. You should go home and get some rest." Nakuru said.

Sakura shook her head. "No, I'm not leaving him."

"Sakura…" Yue tried to persuade her. "Touya will be home soon and he would be wondering where you are."

"Then call him and tell him I'm staying here. I'm not leaving him, Yue." Sakura said firmly. The guardians looked at each other.

Spinel tried. "Sakura, there's nothing that we can do right now but wait. We don't know what this is, and we don't know what to do. He's the only one who would know what to do." The irony of his words was not lost to the rest of the room, but Sakura's eyes widened.

"That's it! Spinel, you're a genius!" Sakura said. The guardians looked at her questioningly. "He's the only one who knows what to do, right? But there are two of them, him and Clow." Sakura explained. "We can't ask Eriol, but we can ask Clow."

"That's a good idea and all." Nakuru started, "But how are you going to talk to Clow?"

"The Dream card or The Return card." Sakura said. "I'm going to try The Dream card first. If it doesn't work, I'll go to the temple to use The Return. Eriol said I shouldn't use The Return card by myself, but the tree can help me." There was another way, by asking Touya's help to talk to Clow's spirit. But Sakura would use that as a last resort.

"Well, this might be the only way." Kero conceded. "Unless anyone else has a better idea." But no one did.

"I'll prepare a room for you." Nakuru said and left.

"I'll call Touya and explain the situation." Yue too left.

* * *

Sakura got ready and sat on the bed in the room that Nakuru had prepared for her. She held her staff in one hand and The Dream in the other. "Please work…" Sakura had never done this before, and she just hoped that this would work. "Please be there, Clow…"

"Dream!" Sakura cast her card and then fell back to bed as The Dream worked.

Sakura found herself standing in the middle of a garden.

"Hello, Sakura." A gentle voice greeted her from behind. "You're looking for me?"

Sakura turned around and saw the older magician standing there, with a now familiar smile on his face. ' _It works!_ ' Sakura thought with relief. "Clow! It's Eriol. He…"

"Yes, I know what happened." Clow nodded. "Walk with me, Sakura."

They started walking. She walked quietly with him knowing that he would only start talking when he was ready. Eriol was exactly the same. At the beginning, Sakura had felt the need to talk, just to fill the silence, but now, she had learned to be patient and wait.

"You've grown." Clow commented a few minutes later.

"Ah, I'm fourteen now. But you know that." Sakura smiled.

Clow nodded. "Yes. Eriol is the same, by my design. However, what's happening between you two, I did not predict."

"He mentioned." Sakura blushed slightly as she remembered his love confession.

"What do you want to ask me, Sakura?" Clow asked her. This, too, was Eriol's style. Even if he knew why Sakura was there, he would want her to ask the questions.

From experience, Sakura knew she had to ask the right question. "How can I help Eriol?" Sakura asked after a while.

Clow's smile told her she had asked the right question. "He has taught you well, I see." Clow's smiled faltered. "Unfortunately, I cannot give you the answer because only you know the answer. This is something that I don't know."

Sakura was quiet as she thought of his words. "What is the nature of the magic that hit him?"

"Black magic. At the base of it all, the purest form of black magic is hatred. It aims to corrupt and as strong as Eriol is, he too could be corrupted." Clow said.

"Corrupted? But he won't let that happen, will he?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"He will not. He knows that if he gets corrupted, with his power, he would be destructive. Which is why he would choose death." Clow told Sakura who had stopped in her surprise.

"Death?" Her voice was above whisper.

"Yes. He would rather die than let it corrupt him. Right now, he's holding it at bay. But he won't be able to hold it off for much longer. The magic itself is not strong, but its nature is strong and corrupt." Clow said.

"So, right now Eriol is deliberately not waking up?" Sakura asked.

"That is correct." Clow nodded. "You might be the only one who can help him, Sakura."

"Me? How?" Sakura asked again.

Clow looked at her gently. "You have the Gift of the heart, Sakura. All you need to do is look into your heart and find the answer. Once you do, and if the answer is in Eriol's favor, then, and only then, you can help him and counter the black magic. Otherwise, there's nothing that any of us can do to help him. Once you've found the answer, you have to harness its power and make it your own. Now, you must go back." He waved his hand in front of her face and Sakura closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was back in the room.

Sakura jumped out of bed in search of the guardians. She found them sitting in the living room. The guardians looked up when she entered the room.

"Did it work? Did you talk to him?" Kero asked eagerly.

Sakura nodded. "What is a Gift? Kero, you mentioned it before. You said Clow was extremely gifted and Touya has a Gift, but what exactly is a Gift?"

"A Gift is well, a Gift. It's something that someone has that makes them… special, I guess." Kero said.

"Like magic?" Sakura asked.

"It's not the same with magic. You know how some people can play music and others can draw? Those are their Gifts." Kero told her. "It's like a talent, but stronger and more special. Sometimes they're magical in nature, but not always. Like Touya, he has the Gift of sight, which allows him to see spirits."

"Clow said I have the Gift of the heart, but what does it mean?" Sakura asked the guardians.

Kero and Yue looked at each other. "Well, yes. That makes sense." Kero said. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

Nakuru and Sakura looked confused. It didn't make any sense to them.

"What's that?" Nakuru asked.

"You really have to start reading and learning, Nakuru." Spinel said.

"What exactly did Clow say?" Yue asked.

"That I have the Gift of the heart. Eriol is deliberately putting himself to sleep right now because otherwise the black magic would corrupt him. Spinel, tell me about this Gift." Sakura turned to Spinel.

"The Gift of the heart is a very special kind of Gift. It's one of the strongest Gifts." Spinel stated. "As its name suggests, it's based on emotions, on the heart itself."

Sakura looked thoughtful. "Clow said that too. That I have to look into my heart to find the answer." She thought about what the other mage had told her. "He said I'm the only one who can find the answer, that not even he knows the answer."

The guardians looked confused.

"I don't understand." Nakuru confessed, and this time, neither did the other guardians.

Sakura was deep in thought as she thought about what Clow had told her. He had told her enough for her to find the answer, she knew that. He was Eriol after all and Eriol had told her that he wouldn't give her anything, be it a question, a situation, or a riddle, that she wouldn't know the answer to. She knew the answer, she just had to gather the information, and connect the dots.

Sakura decided to look into her heart instead of thinking about the answer. After all, that was what Clow told her, that was where she would find the answer. According to Spinel, the Gift was based on her heart, on her feelings, so, she closed her eyes.

Inevitably, she thought of Eriol and how she felt about him. His smiles, his face, his voice, his eyes, _him_. Sakura took a deep breath as she just let go and let herself feel. Thoughts of him filled her head and her heart. They hadn't been together for that long, but she had had feelings for him for much longer. She thought about how much she had missed him during those weeks after their battle, how they had gotten closer, how happy they were these past months, how happy he had made her feel. She thought about how jealous she felt a few months ago, how she thought that she had messed up and how scared she was at the thought of losing him, how he had told her about his love for her afterwards. Sakura thought about their first kiss, their promises to each other, and lastly, she thought about how she was feeling right now. Clow said he would choose death over corruption and Sakura realized she couldn't lose him. She couldn't bear losing him. And then, just like that, she knew the answer. It was right there, in front of her.

"Love." Sakura whispered.

The guardians looked at her in surprise.

"The answer, it's love." Sakura said.

"Love?" Kero asked. "What do you mean?"

"Clow said he doesn't know the answer, that only I know the answer. That's because the matter of the heart is not something that he can predict. He also said that I can only help Eriol and counter the black magic if the answer is in his favor. The black magic is based on hate and the opposite of hate is love." Sakura explained.

"Are you saying that you, uh…?" Spinel trailed off.

Sakura suddenly realized what she had just said in front of the guardians. She had basically admitted in front of the guardians that she loved Eriol. She blushed, furiously.

Yue looked down on the floor as he realized what it meant. Nakuru smirked and Kero looked like he found something very interesting outside the window.

"Anyway," Sakura quickly said, eager to change the subject, "that's only half of the work. He said that I need to harness its power, make it my own and I don't know what he meant by that."

"You have to master it." Spinel told her. "And to truly master it…"

"…you have to make it one of your cards." Kero finished for him, relieved that the conversation had moved away from the other subject and excited that Sakura was going to make a card.

Sakura gaped at them. "I have to make a card?"

"Yes, that's the only way, since your magic is based on the cards." Spinel said.

Sakura looked dejected then. "But I, I don't know how to make a card." She had found the answer, but there was nothing that she could do, and it was even worse now because now she knew that she loved him, but there was nothing that she could do to help him. She was going to lose him without even having the chance to tell him how she felt. Tears started to gather at the corners of her eyes.

"You can do this, Sakura. You might need a little help from us, but just follow your instinct." Spinel said kindly as he noticed her sadness. Spinel didn't like people, but as he got to know Sakura, he found himself growing fonder of her.

"It's within you. Just let your magic guide you." Kero added.

Sakura looked at the four guardians and they looked at her encouragingly. Sakura wiped her tears and then nodded with determination. "Tell me what to do."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the living room. Eriol was lying on the floor and they had moved some of the furniture to give room for Sakura to work. Sakura stood by him and the guardians stood around them in their true forms.

"Okay, remember Sakura, just do what you did when you found the answer and then just let yourself feel. Then let your magic guide you." Spinel said.

Sakura nodded.

"Key that hides the power of the star, reveal your true form before me. I, Sakura, command you under our contract. Release!" Sakura summoned her staff. A few seconds later, she stood there, holding her staff in her hand.

"Whenever you're ready, Sakura." Yue said then he closed his eyes. The other guardians followed suit.

"Guardians created by Clow Reed, lend me your power. I command you as the Cardmistress!" Sakura said and then the guardians were surrounded by bright light and they were absorbed into her staff, just like what happened a few years ago during her battle with Eriol.

Sakura could feel their power flowing within her from the staff. Sakura closed her eyes and let herself feel. She let her newfound love for Eriol flow within her, filling her mind and her heart. She remembered their time together, even from before they became a couple. As her love for him flowed within her, she let her magic take control. It moved from her heart, to her hands, and to her staff.

"Love!" Sakura cried and a pink spirit burst out of the tip of her staff. Sakura opened her eyes and found herself transfixed. It had taken a form of a little girl, pure and innocent. Sakura could feel her gentle nature as she flowed down to Eriol's still form and surrounded him with her magic, Sakura's magic.

A few seconds later, The Love floated up to Sakura, smiled gently, and then turned into her card form, landing in Sakura's outstretched hand. At the same time, the tip of Sakura's staff glowed, and the guardians were brought back.

"You did it!" Kero cried as he saw Sakura holding her new card.

Sakura stared at her new card. This was her own card, the one card that she had created herself. A smile appeared on her face and she held the card close to her heart. She couldn't believe it! She had created a new card! She looked at the guardians and they were all smiling at her.

"Ungh…" They heard a voice from the floor and looked down to see Eriol started waking up.

"We, ah, we should go." Spinel said as he turned and started to make his way out of the room to give the couple some privacy. Kero followed suit, but Ruby just stood there, until Yue grabbed her arm and dragged her out. They closed the door behind them as Sakura got down on the floor.

"Eriol?" She called his name softly, putting her staff and her new card to the side.

His eyes fluttered open and saw her. "Sakura…?" Eriol slowly sat up. He looked at her, then saw her staff and her new card beside them. Surprise flashed across his face, followed by realization. He looked back at her and asked, "Is that…?"

Sakura blushed brightly and nodded shyly.

A smile appeared on his face. "Thank you. For saving me." He told her sincerely.

Then Sakura remembered what he did. "Why did you do that?!" She said angrily.

Eriol was taken aback by her sudden change of mood and said, "I couldn't let that hit you. It would've been fatal for you. I can't lose you, Saku."

If anything, Sakura looked angrier. "And you think I can lose you?!" She scolded him, and then she hugged him tightly. "I thought I've lost you. I was so scared…" Her voice muffled by his shirt. She started crying softly.

"I'm sorry." He told her as his arms went around her, holding her, rocking her gently. "It's okay now. We're okay now."

After a while, Sakura pulled away from him and looked at his face. "You're an idiot, you know that? But you're my idiot." And then she kissed him.

"I love you too." He told her after they pulled apart. She might have not said it, but it was there; her smile told him so. A wide smile spread across his face and he wouldn't be able to wipe that smile off his face, even if he tried to.


	14. Chapter 14

"I think something is wrong with me." Sakura said over the phone three days later.

"What do you mean? Are you alright?" Eriol asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm okay, but Yukito came over for dinner today and I, uh, I don't even know how to describe this. I could _feel_ something between him and Touya. It's like," Sakura thought of how she could best describe what she felt, what she saw. "It's like I could _see_ their feelings, which is super weird, right? I mean, feelings cannot be seen, but I could see it from the way they look at each other and… I don't know!" Sakura huffed in frustration.

There was silence on the other side. "I'm going over tomorrow morning."

"Okay, but do you think it's okay? Is it something that I need to worry about?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"It's nothing to worry about, Sakura. I know what's going on. You're fine. But it's a little too complicated to be explained over the phone." He assured her.

Sakura sighed in relief. "Okay then. I'll see you in the morning."

"What's going on with me then?" Sakura asked him the next morning. They were sitting together on the sofa.

"It's your Gift." Eriol said simply. "Or rather, the manifestation of your Gift."

"My Gift?" Sakura was surprised.

Eriol nodded. "Have you ever heard of something called an empath?"

Sakura shook her head, "No. What's that?"

"Essentially, an empath is someone who can feel other people's emotion, down to the last details. They could feel emotions and often took them as their own. Thus, they could get overwhelmed easily with other people's emotions. They could see emotions almost as if they're tangible."

Sakura's eyes widened. "That's… That's what I felt last night! I could see Touya and Yukito's feelings as if they're tangible! Am I an empath?"

"No, you're not. But you have something similar. Instead of all kinds of emotions, you can feel love and affection."

Sakura blinked. "Um…?"

"The Gift of the heart can manifest itself in many different forms, Sakura. Yours happens to manifest in the form of love. Love itself has different types, couples, parents, siblings, friends, et cetera. Some people could feel what you felt last night, but it might not be as strongly. The reason yours is so strong is because your Gift is made stronger by your magic."

"So, I can 'see' love?" Sakura asked.

"In a way, yes." He nodded.

"That's… weird." Sakura said. "Are you sure it's not just a coincidence?"

"Saku, look at me." Eriol told her. Sakura looked at him and then she could _see_ it; his love for her. It was in the way he looked at her, in his expression; it was in him. It was so intense, so passionate, and yet, so gentle. It was the best thing that she had ever experienced, and she doubted she would ever come across anything better than this.

"Sakura?" Now he looked alarmed.

Sakura blinked and realized that there were tears in her eyes. "Eriol, I… You…" She was at loss of words.

"What is your Gift telling you, Saku?" He asked her gently.

"That, that you love me very much." Sakura sniffled slightly.

"That's right." He said softly as he reached to wipe her tears. "That, I do."

"Will it always be like this?" Sakura asked him a few minutes later after she had calmed down.

"No. Over time, you'll be able to control it better. You'll also get used to it more. With time, it might also develop, and you might discover new things." Eriol said. "But it won't be like this with other people. You got slightly overwhelmed because your own emotions are reacting to mine."

"Why now though?" Sakura wondered. "I mean, how come I never did this before?"

"When you created the card a few days ago, you 'unlocked' this... potential." Eriol explained.

Sakura nodded. "I see. You never told me anything about Gifts before."

"No, I'm sorry. This is a large topic and I also wasn't sure how to approach this, given your own Gift and how it manifests itself."

"Does everyone have a Gift?" Sakura asked. She knew Touya had it too.

"No, not everyone has a Gift. Some have a few, others don't have any. There are many types of Gifts. Yours is the Gift of the heart, there's also the Gift of sight, that's Touya's Gift, the Gift of the mind, divination, healing, et cetera. Some of those Gifts also manifest in different forms. Like you, an empath has the Gift of the heart, but the Gift manifests itself in a different way than yours."

"What is your Gift?" Sakura asked curiously. Sakura remembered Kero said Clow, and essentially Eriol too, was extremely gifted.

"I have many, but my strongest Gift is the Gift of the mind. The Gifts of the mind and the heart are considered as the strongest and the most complicated Gifts. They have many different forms and expressions. When it's related to magic, like ours, it gets even more complicated because it usually becomes the purest form of our magic. It becomes the 'fuel', the basic ingredient of our magic."

"The purest… Clow mentioned it too. He said that the purest form of black magic is hatred." Sakura recalled.

"Yes. That's how you managed to help me." Eriol said. "Because the purest form of _your_ magic is love. That's how you created The Love card. Black magic was fueled by hatred. Essentially, you… cleansed me."

"What is the purest form of your magic then?" She asked.

"Knowledge. The more knowledge I have, the stronger I get. That's why I keep on learning." Eriol told her. "Besides, logically, the more I know about magic, the better I am at it."

Sakura nodded. "I see… If I could sense love, does it mean that I can tell if someone is lying about love?"

"You can. Soon, you'll also learn how to recognize different kinds of love and its intensity. Unfortunately, it's not something that I can teach you. But your Gift will not lie to you, Sakura. Trust it." He paused. "There's also something that you need to know about your new card." Eriol continued. "Tell me, how did you create it?"

"Uh… I," Sakura blushed slightly. "I thought about you, about what we have, how happy we are, about my feelings for you. I thought about the things that we've been through together. I just let myself feel." She blushed more as she said it.

"So, you created it by using our memories." Eriol summarized.

"I suppose so." Sakura nodded.

"This new card, it's different from the others. Its strength and power come from your emotions, not your magical energy." Eriol said.

"So, when I want to use it, I just have to… think of you?" Sakura looked confused.

"Think of your emotions, Sakura. For me, for your family, for your friends, for everyone that you love and care about." Eriol smiled. "The stronger your feeling is, your love is, the stronger the card is."

"I understand." Sakura said. "You're right. This is a large topic and I think there are still a lot of it that I don't know."

"We'll talk more about it as we come across it." He told her. "Now, what do you say we bake a cake today?"

They checked the pantry to see if they needed to buy more ingredients, which they did, so, they left to get some ingredients.

"Oh, then maybe we can get lunch outside too." Sakura was alone at home today since both her Dad and her brother were working during the day. Touya worked all summer because he was saving up to get his own place.

* * *

"Guys!" Tomoyo called her friends as she spotted them.

Sakura and the others stopped walking and waited for Tomoyo to join them.

"Sorry I'm late." Tomoyo apologized. Everyone was there, Sakura, Naoko, Rika, Chiharu, Yamazaki, and Eriol. They had all agreed to go to the summer festival together this year seeing that this was the first time that everyone could make it.

"It's okay, Tomoyo." Sakura smiled at her. "We just got here ourselves."

The group started walking. All of the girls were in yukata of various colours and patterns. Eriol was wearing a simple short-sleeved blue and white checkered shirt and jeans and Yamazaki was wearing a hooded vest over a T-shirt and jeans. Both guys were sporting a pair of sneakers on their feet.

They walk along the path, stopping by the various booths to play some games or buy some foods. In between the booths, Chiharu was busy separating Yamazaki from Eriol when they started to approach other festival goers with unsolicited facts.

At the end of the festival, they gathered around at the plaza to watch the fireworks.

"That was great!" Sakura said as Eriol walked her home.

"It was." He agreed. "And you look very cute."

Sakura blushed slightly. "Stop saying silly things…" She said shyly.

He chuckled. "I've been wanting to say that for years." He said, making her blush even more.

They reached her house. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said.

"See you tomorrow. Be careful walking home." Sakura told him.

* * *

"Let's go!" Sakura said excitedly. She and her friends had just arrived at the newly renovated amusement park.

"It looks very nice!" Naoko commented as they looked around. The park had been undergoing a major renovation for the past couple of years and it was now back with new and improved rides.

"It sure is! What should we do first?" Chiharu asked. "Let's try the roller coaster."

They made their way to the roller coaster and joined the line. Not unexpectedly, Eriol and Yamazaki started talking about the history of roller coaster. Fifteen minutes later, they were seated securely in the cars. "This is so exciting, isn't Sakura?" Tomoyo said to her friend.

Sakura nodded. Personally, Sakura didn't have any strong opinion about roller coaster. She didn't love it, but she didn't dislike it either. It was just a neutral experience. She glanced back and saw Eriol sitting with Yamazaki. She wasn't sure how he'd do with roller coaster. Eriol said he had never ridden any before. Hopefully he'd be okay. Sakura would've preferred to sit with him, but Tomoyo had slid into the seat next to her instead.

After the ride, everyone got off and Sakura quickly checked on her boyfriend.

"What do you think of the roller coaster?" Sakura asked him as they walked towards the next ride.

"It was okay. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either." Eriol said. "Yamazaki doesn't like it though." They looked at Yamazaki, who was looking slightly green.

Sakura smiled. "It's okay for me too. Not something that I'd get excited about, but not something that I would avoid."

They went for a few more rides and then went to the food court to have lunch.

"Hm…" Sakura looked at the overhead menu at one of the food stalls.

"Can't decide?" Eriol asked as he stood beside her.

"The hot dog looks nice, but the burger looks yummy too. What are you getting?" Sakura asked.

"The burger. I'm going to get a set meal with fries and soda." Eriol said. He was waiting for her to decide before placing an order.

"Okay. I'll get the burger too, also with the set." Sakura finally decided.

"Two burgers with the set meals, please." Eriol told the person behind the counter. He took out his wallet and paid for their meals.

They stood there and waited for their orders. Once they got their food, they took their trays and went in search of their friends. It looked like everyone was scattered as Tomoyo and Rika were sitting at one small table, and the others in another. Seeing an opportunity to have some alone time, Sakura and Eriol sat down at one of the tables at the corner.

"Yummy!" Sakura said as she took a bite of her burger.

Eriol smiled as he ate his own burger.

"It almost feels like a date, almost." Sakura told him.

"Close enough." He agreed with a smile. "At least we get to eat alone. I'll take whatever I can get."

"I think that as long as we don't hold hands or anything, nobody would suspect a thing, not even Tomoyo. They know we've been best friends for a while now." Sakura had done some little experiments to test out how far they could push things. It looked like nobody actually suspected anything, even when they were spending so much time alone together.

"Right, so no handholding, no hugging, no kissing." He smiled widely as Sakura blushed. "You better not blush either, Saku. Daidouji would get suspicious if you blush too much around your 'best friend'." He smirked and Sakura threw a fry at him.

"You're so mean." She scolded him lightly, still blushing slightly. "But yeah. I think as long as we don't do those things, we'll be okay."

They chatted as they ate and then afterwards, they rejoined their friends who had finished their lunch too.

They continued to walk around, trying out various rides, until they reached the haunted house.

"Let's do this!" Naoko said excitedly, too excitedly.

"Oh, this looks like fun!" Rika said.

"Uh…" Sakura looked at the darkened building. She didn't want to go in, but her friends seemed excited. If she opted to wait outside, she knew Eriol would've stayed with her. And he would be missing all the fun.

"I think I'm going to…" Eriol started, knowing Sakura wouldn't want to go in, but his words were cut off by Sakura herself.

"Let's go." Sakura said. She didn't want him to miss all the fun because she was scared of some fake ghosts.

Eriol turned to her sharply. "Are you sure?" He asked, frowning. Even Tomoyo was looking at Sakura doubtfully.

"It's all fake, right? Just people dressing up in costumes." Sakura forced a smile on her face. "Nothing to be scared of."

"That's the spirit, Sakura! And yes, they're all fake. Like Halloween in America." Naoko said encouragingly.

Sakura nodded. "Let's go then." She put on her bravest face, although she was feeling terrified in the inside.

The group walked towards the entrance and joined the line. Since there were seven of them, they had to be divided into two groups. Sakura, Eriol, Tomoyo and Naoko were in one group and Rika, Chiharu and Yamazaki in another.

They reached the front of the line and the first group to go in was Sakura's group. They walked past the door and was enveloped in darkness. The room had some lighting effects that made it more eerie.

"Uh…" Sakura was starting to regret her decision. This looked scarier than she thought.

"It's okay, Sakura. It's just dark. Don't be scared." Tomoyo tried to assure her friend. They started walking. Suddenly, there was a skeleton jumping out from the side and Sakura thought she was going to have a heart attack. Her hand instinctively reached for Eriol's hand. She didn't care if Tomoyo or anyone else found out about them. She needed him.

Eriol caught her hand and held it in his own, secret be damned. He regretted not insisting that she wait outside and now, she was scared and they only just started.

They continued to walk and reached the next room. This room was darker than the previous one and Sakura could feel her heart pounding in her chest. They walked a few paces and then a scary looking creature jumped right in front of Sakura, making her scream and just like that, she panicked. She let go of Eriol's hand and ran off.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo called her friend, but then she saw Eriol taking off as well. Tomoyo wanted to run after them, but Naoko's voice stopped her.

"It's my fault." Naoko said. "I shouldn't have insisted."

Tomoyo was torn. On one hand, she wanted to make sure Sakura was okay, but on the other hand, she couldn't just leave her friend here alone in the dark. Finally, deciding that Eriol would go to Sakura, Tomoyo stayed with Naoko. As much as she disliked the guy, she had to admit that he was one of Sakura's friends and he seemed to care about her.

"It's okay, Naoko. Come on, let's just get to the end, okay?" Tomoyo said comfortingly.

Meanwhile, Sakura ran blindly along the path. Her one and only goal was to get out of this place, fast. After what seemed like forever, she finally reached the exit. Sakura burst out of the door, but she didn't stop running.

"Sakura!" She heard Eriol calling her and only then did she slow down. Sakura turned around and saw him running towards her. When he reached her, he pulled her into his arms at the same time that she reached for him. "You're okay… It's alright now. I'm here, it's alright." He told her soothingly.

Sakura hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shirt, seeking comfort from him.

"It's okay. You're okay…" He tried to calm her down.

After a minute, Sakura pulled back. "I know it was fake. I know. But it was dark and it was scary and…" She almost cried. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Eriol asked.

"Because, because I ruined it for you. It's your first trip to amusement park and I want you to have fun…" Sakura said quietly.

Eriol was shocked. "Dear god, Saku. Is that why you insisted on going inside?"

Sakura nodded meekly. "I didn't want you to miss the fun just because I'm scared of the dark and fake ghosts. But I ruined it anyway…"

Eriol placed his hands on her shoulders. "Look at me, please." He asked and waited until she looked at him. "If we're going to have fun, we're going to have fun together. How am I going to have fun if you're scared? I won't be having any fun if you're uncomfortable, Saku. If you're scared, we're not going to do it because your well-being is very important. So, please don't do that again, understand?"

Sakura nodded. "I understand."

"No more haunted houses or anything else that makes you uncomfortable." Eriol said firmly.

"Okay." Sakura said, smiling slightly, which he returned.

"Come on, let's sit down and we'll wait for the others." Eriol led her to the bench.

A few minutes later, Tomoyo and Naoko joined them.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura!" Naoko apologized to her.

"It's okay, Naoko. It's not your fault. I was the one who wanted to go in." Sakura assured her friend.

They waited for the rest of the group and once everyone was gathered together, they decided to call it a day seeing that it was almost 4pm. They walked towards the exit and went to the train station. They rode the train back to their station and then they went their separate ways.

Sakura and Eriol walked together towards her house. Fujitaka and Touya wouldn't be having dinner at home, so Eriol would join her for dinner. Ten minutes later, they reached her house and they started preparing for dinner.

"It wasn't all those things that scared me. It was how dark it was. It was so dark and I couldn't see anything and…" Sakura said as she stirred the soup.

"I understand." Eriol said gently. "It's okay to be scared, Saku. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone is scared of something. That's human nature."

"You're not scared of anything." Sakura pointed out.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Eriol asked.

"Well, you're you." Sakura said as she added some salt into the pot.

"That doesn't mean I'm not scared of anything." He said as he stirred the vegetables.

"Okay, so what are you scared of?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Losing you." He paused briefly. "If anything happens to you, if you get hurt, or worse, and there's nothing that I could do. That's what scares me the most because what's the point of being me if I can't protect the one person that matters to me the most?"

Sakura was speechless. That was unexpected.

Eriol was quiet for a few moments, but then he said, "You see, nobody is above fear, Saku, not even I. It's okay if you're scared of the dark or scary stories or anything else, just remember that you don't have to face it alone, that I'm going to be there with you, okay?"

Sakura looked at him and gave him a bright smile. "Okay."

He smiled back at her and they continued to cook dinner. But a few minutes later, after they were done, Sakura went to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Saku?"

"When you were hurt a few weeks ago, I was scared too. I was so scared that I was going to lose you." Sakura pulled back slightly to look at his face but she kept her arms around his waist. "I'm not as powerful as you are, but let's protect and take care of each other, okay? Because I can't lose you either."

Eriol looked at her and then he smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Okay." He said simply as he kissed her hair. "I love you."

"Me too." She still couldn't say the words, but that was okay.

* * *

The rest of the summer holiday went by quickly. Sakura and Eriol were happier than ever and they hung out practically everyday at each other's houses. Sometimes they went out to get ice cream or other. At this point, they had stopped caring too much about other people finding out, but since they only went between their houses, they didn't run into anyone that they knew.

"Aargh! My homework!" Sakura was panicking as she remembered that she hadn't done most of the homework and today was the last day of summer holiday.

"Why are you always like this?!" Kero scolded her.

"I did some of them, Kero, but not all of them. I'm glad I'm on track for the journal though, at least there's that, right?" Sakura opened her books and was relieved to see that she had done at least half of her summer homework.

"No! Geeze, Sakura… Seriously?!" Kero couldn't believe that his Mistress had not changed at all. She was going to high school next year! "No, I'm not going to help you with them now." Kero noticed the pleading look on Sakura's face. "Ask Eriol."

"He'll just scold me…" Sakura said. He had reminded her to do her homework, but every time she sat down at her desk, she ended up daydreaming about going on a date with him or just being outside.

"Can't say you don't deserve that." Kero said.

"Please, Kero? Pretty please? I'll buy you that cake that you like from the bakery." Sakura tried to bargain with her guardian.

Kero's eyes twitched. "The chocolate one?"

Sakura nodded her head repeatedly. "The chocolate one."

Kero looked conflicted for a while before he finally said with resignation. "Why do you always do this to me?"

"Thank you, Kero!" Sakura hugged her guardian.


	15. Chapter 15

_A few months later…_

"Alright everyone. Get settled in your rooms and then we'll meet back here so that you can try out the ski classes." The teacher told them, and they dispersed to put their stuff in their assigned rooms.

"Can't believe we're at another ski resort for our class trip." Tomoyo said to Sakura as they walked to their room. "Hopefully, nothing strange will happen this time."

"Will you ever let that go?" Sakura asked her friend. "It's been years, Tomoyo."

"Okay, okay." Tomoyo relented. They put their stuff in their room and then went back to the common area. They were going to try out the ski classes to find out which level they would be. For the rest of the afternoon, they had free time where they could freely roam about as the classes would start tomorrow.

That night, after dinner, they sat around the common area to chat.

"Time for a horror story." Naoko said gleefully.

Sakura had seen it coming, but she was still scared. "Naoko…"

Naoko turned to Eriol. "Hiiragizawa, you told us a pretty good one last time. Do you have another?"

Sakura looked at her boyfriend, hoping that since he didn't have to 'set the mood' for his 'situation', he wouldn't tell any scary story this time.

Eriol looked thoughtful for a moment, but then looked at Naoko apologetically. "No, sorry. Can't think of anything right now."

Naoko looked slightly disappointed, and Sakura looked relieved. Until Naoko said, "That's okay. I have one."

Sakura's relief was short-lived.

"A long time ago, in the mountains, there was a woman who lived in a cabin with her son. One day, in the middle of winter, the son went for a hunt, leaving his mother alone at home. As the day went by, the sky turned darker and then, there was a storm, a big one. The mother waited for her son to come home but he never did. So, the mother went to search for him. But because of the storm, the mother soon got lost and she died. But her spirit lived on and she continued to look for her lost son."

Sakura shifted in her seat. She desperately wanted to go to Eriol's side to seek comfort, but that would be highly inappropriate. So, she just scooted closer to Tomoyo who was sitting with her on the sofa.

"Until this day, they said that if there's a storm," Naoko glanced out of the window to emphasize her point, "If you walk around the mountain, you could see her spirit, still wandering around. Those who have encountered her said that her spirit takes form of an old woman with long silver hair and if you're a guy, she would take you with her because she thought that you're her long lost son." Naoko finished off her story.

The rest of the group looked at her in silence. By then, Sakura had scooted backwards until she reached the back of the sofa, away from Naoko.

"Students, it's late. Time to go to bed." The teacher said from the doorway.

"It's okay, Sakura. It's just a story." Tomoyo told her as they walked out of the room.

"I know, but it doesn't make it any less scary." Sakura countered.

The rest of the group went on, but Sakura lingered for a bit as she stood in front of the big window. The weather was clear, and she could even see some stars in the sky.

"Are you okay?" Eriol asked her worriedly as he stopped to stand beside her.

Sakura nodded. "Naoko is such a good storyteller. But she really likes horror stories for some reason." Sakura looked up to the sky. "Luckily it's a clear night tonight. No storm, no ghost, right?"

Eriol looked out the window. "It's actually a sad story."

"Huh?" Sakura looked at him questioningly.

"Think about it this way, that woman lost her son in the storm and instead of staying in her house, she went out and looked for him, knowing that there was a big risk of her getting lost in the storm too. She looked for him because he was her son and she loved him so much that she was willing to risk her own life for him. And she never gave up, even after death." Eriol explained.

Sakura thought about it and understood what he meant. "You're right. She didn't have to go out looking for him, but she did. Because he was her son and she was his Mom." Sakura said sadly. "Even after she died, she still looked for him. She must've loved him very much."

"In most cases, there are more than one way to look at things, Saku, including stories. I know you don't like horror stories, but if you look at them from a different perspective, sometimes, a horror story is not even a horror story. Sometimes people just exaggerate certain points to make it sound like a scary story, but at the heart of the story, it was not that scary at all."

Sakura nodded. "Last time, I asked you what is the one thing that you don't like the most. You said it's a secret." She turned to him. "Will you tell me now?"

Eriol smiled softly. "I don't like to see you cry. That is the one thing that I don't like the most."

Sakura smiled at him. "I'll try my best not to cry so much. So, don't make me worry about you, okay?"

He nodded. They stood there for a little longer before going back to their rooms.

A couple of hours later, Sakura laid on the futon, wide awake. Not surprisingly, she couldn't sleep and decided that a glass of water would be nice. So, she crept out of the room quietly and went to the common area.

"Syaoran?" Sakura was surprised to see him sitting by himself in front of the fireplace.

"Ah, Sakura? Can't sleep?" Syaoran turned to her. "The scary story?"

Sakura nodded sheepishly. "Just like last time, huh?" She remembered it was like this too last time they were at a ski resort. She couldn't sleep and found him in the common room.

Syaoran smiled. It was only about four years ago but it felt way longer than that and so much had changed ever since. "I'm leaving, Sakura."

Sakura looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"After junior high, I'm going back to Hong Kong for good." Syaoran told her. "The elders have wanted me to go back a few years ago, after you captured all the cards. But then you had to change the cards and I also had some feelings for you, so I refused. But now, there's nothing holding me back here. They want me to start my training right away."

Sakura was quiet for a moment. "I see… Is that what you want?"

"Sooner or later, I will have to take up the responsibility of being the head of the Li family. Now that I've also finished the basic requirements for formal education, it's time for me to move on." Syaoran said.

"You're one of my best friends, Syaoran. I'm going to miss you." Sakura told him.

"Are you, really? After all, you have him to keep you busy." Syaoran said laughingly.

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"You're with him now." Syaoran stated simply.

Sakura didn't see the point of denying it. "I am. We are. How did you know?"

"I sit beside him and behind you in class, Sakura. He spends most of the class time watching you instead of paying attention to the teacher. I might not be as smart as he is, but I'm not stupid either." Syaoran smirked. "It's actually pretty entertaining."

Sakura blushed. "We're so going to have a talk about _that_." She muttered.

"How long have you two…?" Syaoran asked curiously.

"Since the spring holiday." Sakura said truthfully.

"Wow…" Syaoran only noticed it recently, but he had a feeling that it must have been going on longer. "So, that time when we went to the Teddy bear exhibition?"

Sakura nodded. "That's why I was so angry when she left him out on purpose."

"Daidouji doesn't know?" He asked in surprise.

"No. Seeing how hard she's been trying to get you and me together, we're worried that if she knows, she's going to try just as hard to break us up, which is not going to work, of course, but it would be such a hassle to deal with. Besides, our history is already as complicated as it is without adding some meddling friends into the mix."

"I'm just amazed that you two manage to hide it from her for this long." Syaoran said.

"We are too, actually." Sakura admitted. "But we've been close for a while now. Tomoyo knows that, so I think she just doesn't suspect it. Besides, she's too busy getting _us_ together."

"Don't worry, Sakura. Your secret is safe with me." Syaoran assured her. "I can see that he makes you happy. I'm glad."

"Thank you, Syaoran." Sakura smiled at him sincerely before yawning. "We better go to bed. It will be a busy day tomorrow."

They walked back to their rooms.

* * *

"Why are we still here?" Sakura asked Syaoran the next day. "The rest of our friends are in the Intermediate class. Everyone but us!"

"How should I know?" Syaoran shrugged. "Not everyone though. Your boyfriend is not even in _any_ class."

"He's not included." Sakura waved her hand dismissively as she looked up the hill. "Tomoyo, Chiharu, Yamazaki, Naoko, and Rika are all up there, but we're stuck down here." She looked at the gentle slope miserably. The two of them were the only ones among their friend group who had to take Beginner ski class while the rest of their friends were assigned to the Intermediate ski class up the hill.

"Cheer up, Sakura. If you're up there, you wouldn't be able to see that." Syaoran said.

"See what?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"That." Syaoran pointed at something behind Sakura. She turned and saw someone was skiing down the mountain. The blue hair was unmistakable. He skillfully made his way down the mountain, threading around trees and rocks before using a protruding rock to launch himself into the air, landing on his ski-board gracefully.

"You're staring." Syaoran told Sakura.

She turned to him. "Shut up!" Sakura glared at him as he smirked. "Let's go." She started skiing.

Half an hour later, Sakura stopped and turned to Syaoran. "It's almost lunch time. Let's go back."

Syaoran agreed. They slowly made their way back to the cabin, still wearing their ski gears. Suddenly, Syaoran tripped and fell.

"Syaoran!" Sakura was surprised. "Are you okay?" She looked down at him with concern.

"Ugh, yeah. Fine." Syaoran looked at what had tripped him and saw a rock.

Sakura held out her hand to him to help him stand. He took it and got to his feet. "Better take these off." He said as he bent down to take off his ski-board. "I'm really not made for this stuff."

Sakura followed suit. They took off their ski gears and then walked to the cabin instead.

Neither of them was aware of someone watching them from the hill with a smile on her face.

* * *

' _Meet me at the back after lunch._ ' The note read. Sakura slipped it into his hand as they passed each other in the dining hall. They had been doing this for a while now, they had gotten so good at it. Sakura slipped the note while still talking to Rika and he was talking to Yamazaki. After reading the note, Eriol flicked his wrist and the note disappeared into thin air.

Forty-five minutes later, Eriol found her waiting for him at the back of the cabin. She was standing at the deck, leaning on the railings.

"Hello." He greeted her cheerfully.

She turned to him and smiled. "Hello yourself."

He moved to stand beside her. "How was your ski class?"

Sakura turned back to look at the expanse of snow in front of them. "It was okay. A little boring, seeing that there are only a handful of us. Syaoran and I are the only ones among our friends who are still in the Beginner class. Speaking of which, Syaoran knows about us."

He turned to her in surprise. "How?"

" _Someone_ ," She gave him a pointed look, "has been busy staring at me in class."

He chuckled. "He noticed, huh?"

Sakura turned serious then. "He's leaving. He's going back to Hong Kong after graduation to start his training."

Eriol looked at her. "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded. That wasn't why she had wanted to talk to him. "It got me thinking… Soon, we'll be in high school, then university. Syaoran told me that it's time for him to move on and sooner or later, we will too." She paused. "How about us, Eriol? Where are we going?"

"What do you mean?" He asked with a hint of confusion in his voice.

"You're a British. Don't you have to go back one day? Where would that put us then?" Sakura had been thinking about it all morning. Syaoran wasn't the only one leaving. She knew that some of their classmates would be going to different high schools too. And one day, he too, might have to go back to England.

"We'll be wherever you want us to be, Sakura." Eriol said after a few seconds. "Yes, I'm British, but I don't see why I have to go back. I'll be wherever you are. High school, university, work… Wherever you go, I'll follow."

"That wouldn't be fair for you." Sakura didn't want him to throw away his life just to be with her.

"Remember I told you that I stay in school because it's fun? That's not the only reason why I stay. I stay because of you. After our battle, I was so sure you hated me and wouldn't want to have anything to do with me anymore, so I thought of going back to England. But after years of dreaming of you, when I got to know you in person, I couldn't leave you." He looked at her. "I've had more than a lifetime to do what I want. This time, I'll stay with you and go where you want."

"I'm sorry to have made you think that I hated you. Those weeks I was miserable too. I sat on the bench almost everyday, hoping that you would show up and talk to me, but you never did. So, I thought that you didn't want to talk to me anymore since you've done your 'job'. When my Dad told me about that night, I was so happy because I finally had a reason to talk to you." Sakura told him.

"I know you sat on that bench. I was watching you." He said. "I wanted to talk to you, but I was afraid that I wasn't welcomed."

Sakura laughed lightly at that. "Look at the pair of us. We're hopeless." She smiled and placed her hand on top of his on the railing. "I'm so glad that you decided not to go back to England."

"Me too." He said as he turned his palm up to hold her hand in his.

"You know what?" Sakura said suddenly. "One day, I want to go around the world, to see other places, meet new people."

"Then one day, I'll take you around the world. We'll see the world." He told her. "Clow hadn't done that either. Transportation wasn't as easy back then. I'll be happy to be able to share that experience with you."

Sakura smiled widely. "One day…" She nodded to herself.

* * *

"Hiiragizawa!" Tomoyo called Eriol loudly. He paused his conversation and turned to see her glaring at him from the doorway, Syaoran standing beside her.

"Be right back." He told Yamazaki before going over to them.

Once he reached them, Tomoyo grabbed his sleeve and pulled him away from the common area. "What have you done?" She hissed at him angrily.

"What are you talking about?" He asked confusedly, looking between her and Syaoran, who looked like he wanted to say something.

"Sakura is missing. If this is your doing…" Tomoyo started, but Eriol cut her off.

"Missing?" Eriol asked, surprised. He had thought that Sakura was with Tomoyo and the other girls. "What do you mean missing?" His surprise quickly turned into fear.

"She went to practice her skiing but hasn't come back yet." Syaoran explained calmly. Tomoyo came to him first and was quick to place the blame on Eriol, as misplaced as it was. So, Syaoran had to calm her down before she got herself into trouble. It really wasn't a good idea to agitate the blue haired mage.

"I'm going to look for her." Eriol quickly said, but before he could walk away, Tomoyo grabbed his arm.

"You're taking Li with you." Tomoyo told him firmly. She had noted his surprise and realized he might not have anything to do with this, but she still didn't trust him fully.

"Fine." Eriol didn't have time to argue with her. It was already dark outside.

They got geared up and left.

* * *

Sakura tightened her jacket around her. She looked around and wondered how she had gotten herself into this situation.

Sakura was practicing her skiing skill and was doing great. Feeling confident, she had wanted to try out new grounds, so she had moved away from the rest of the group, towards the edge of the trees. She was practicing going around obstacles and didn't realized that she was getting further into the woods. Suddenly, she lost control of her ski-board and had slid down a hill, and now she was at the bottom of the hill.

She tried to stand and climb up, but it looked like she had sprained her ankle badly on her way down and she couldn't even stand up without being in pain. So, she had crawled to a nearby tree and had been sitting there with her back against the trunk. She thought about using The Fly, but not sure if that was a good idea. Her ankle was throbbing badly and she wasn't sure if she could focus on getting herself up there. The sky had turned dark a while ago and it was getting colder. Sakura didn't have her phone with her or any other way to communicate with the rest of the group.

She was alone in a cold and dark place and she was getting scared. Not only because of the horror stories that Naoko had told them over the years, but she was also aware that she was in the woods and there might be wild animals roaming around. She thought of using Firey to warm up, but it wouldn't last long, and if she were going to be stranded here for a while, it was better to save up her energy. Just in case she needed to defend herself against some wild animals or other. Besides, a fire might attract unwanted attention.

Her friends must've noticed that she was missing, right? Sakura didn't know how long she had been here, but if she didn't show up for dinner, they would've noticed, right? Eriol would've noticed.

"Eriol…" She whispered his name. ' _He'll find you. He will._ ' Sakura told herself. In an attempt to stay warm, Sakura folded her knees up, wincing as the movement brought pain to her ankle, and hugged them close to her body.

Suddenly, Sakura got an idea. If Eriol was looking for her, which she was sure he was, she was going to help him. Sakura concentrated to let her magic presence flowed out from her, knowing that he would feel it.

* * *

"Sakura!" Eriol yelled her name. He could feel her presence, but it was faint. He and Syaoran had been looking for her along the tree lines, thinking that she might've gotten lost.

Eriol closed his eyes and concentrated to try and feel her presence. She had learned how to hide her presence and while she couldn't fully hide it from him, nobody could, it wasn't as strong as it was before. He had been so proud of her, but now it had turned out to be a hazard.

Eriol's eyes snapped open when he suddenly felt it. Judging from Syaoran's expression, he had felt it too. It was so strong, as if she had lit up a beacon for them to find. "Clever girl." Eriol murmured with a smile on his face.

They followed the presence and came upon a steep hill. They looked around and then he saw her, sitting at the bottom of the hill, her back against the tree, hugging her knees and burying her face in them. She must have fallen down there and couldn't get back up. Eriol felt a sense of relief wash over him as he saw her.

"Stay here." Eriol told Syaoran and without waiting for his answer, Eriol went down the hill. He didn't walk, he let himself levitate down.

Syaoran stared at him in shock. "What the…"

When she felt Eriol's presence, Sakura lifted her head up and saw him floating down the hill towards her. "Eriol!" Her face broke into a big, relieved smile.

Eriol got to the bottom of the hill and landed on the snow. He quickly went to her and knelt down beside her, pulling her into his arms. "God, Saku…" He whispered into her ear as she wrapped her own arms around him. "Are you alright?"

"I fell and sprained my ankle. I was so scared, but I didn't cry. I knew you would find me..." Sakura said against his jacket.

"Good girl." He held her tightly and brushed his lips against her hair.

Sakura could feel pride swelling in her heart at his words. She didn't know when it started, but she loved his praises. It was probably because he was her mentor. But they always made her very happy and proud of herself.

After a few seconds, he pulled away. He checked her over and saw her ankle was slightly bent. He placed his hand above her ankle and his hand glowed red as he started to heal her.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Healing your ankle." Eriol answered.

"You can do that?" There was a surprise in her voice. He never mentioned that he could heal.

He nodded. "I'm a healer." A pause. "I'll tell you about it later." He added before she could ask.

Sakura could feel her ankle healing and the pain receding as he healed her. After a few minutes, the pain was completely gone.

"Try to move it for me." He told her softly.

Sakura gingerly moved it, but it didn't hurt at all and she then wiggled it. "It's as good as new. Thank you." She thanked him with a smile.

Eriol picked her up in his arms and Sakura automatically wrapped her arms around his neck. He floated them up the hill and once they reached the top of the hill, Sakura spotted Syaoran standing there.

"Syaoran?" She asked in surprise.

"Daidouji insisted he comes with me. To make sure I wasn't going to do anything funny." Eriol told her as they landed in front of Syaoran and he put her down on her feet.

Sakura frowned. "She's getting a little too much." But then she smiled at Syaoran. "Thank you!"

"I didn't actually do anything." Syaoran pointed out, which was true. He just stood at the top of the hill, waiting, and pondering the fact that Eriol could fly.

"What happened?" Eriol asked as they made their way back to the cabin.

Sakura told them about her little misadventure and how she ended up at the bottom of the hill.

Once they reached the cabin, they spotted Tomoyo pacing at the deck.

She stopped pacing when she saw them and went to them and hugged Sakura. "Sakura! Oh, I'm so relieved! Are you ok? What happened?"

"Hi, Tomoyo!" Sakura hugged her back. "I'm okay. I got lost."

Tomoyo took Sakura's arm and led her inside.

* * *

"What's a healer?" Sakura asked Eriol a few days later as they sat in his kitchen eating cookies after training.

"Just as the name suggests, a healer is someone who can heal." Eriol told her. "It's one of my Gifts. The Gift of healing."

"So, you can heal anything?" Sakura asked.

"Not everything. I can heal most injuries, such as cuts, broken bones, or any other wounds. But I cannot heal sickness and illnesses. I'm not god, Saku." Eriol said. "We're just magicians. We cannot and should not play god."

"But that's still quite handy." Sakura commented.

"If you get hurt, it's better for you to go to a healer than a hospital. It's not that I don't trust science, but in most circumstances, going to the hospital would only make matters worse. If your injuries are life threatening, going to the hospital is very risky because they might not be able to help you, simply because they do not have the skills and the capacity. You know how people could die on the operating table because of their injuries?" He asked. Sakura nodded and he continued, "If you get hurt, your magic will try to help you, to protect you, for as long as possible. But a hospital procedure will interrupt that. Your magic would do anything to preserve you, but it would also use a lot of your energy. When you're completely drained, it wouldn't be able to protect you anymore." He paused and looked at her intently. "Sakura, you must remember this. If you get hurt, you must get to me or another healer as soon as possible."

"I understand. Can you heal yourself too?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, I can. The same concept still applies." Eriol told her.

"Okay. Got it. No hospital for us." Sakura told him with a nod.


	16. Chapter 16

"Happy new year!" Sakura greeted her Dad and her brother as she reached the first floor. They were waiting for her so that they could go to the temple together.

"Happy new year, Sakura." Fujitaka greeted her with a smile.

"Happy new year." Touya greeted her. "I swear, you're getting bigger every year."

"That's called growing up, Touya!" Sakura stuck her tongue at him.

"Alright, alright. Come on now." Fujitaka said before their fight escalated. "Will Yukito and Eriol be meeting us?"

Touya nodded, but Sakura told them Eriol would meet her after.

They made their way to the temple and met Yukito along the way.

When they reached the temple, they prayed and then Touya and Yukito left to go to their part-time job. Working on New Year's Day meant extra pay and they were not going to miss that.

Fujitaka and Sakura started to make their way back when they ran into Tomoyo and her mom. They greeted each other.

"Happy new year, Sakura! Look at you! You're all grown up now!" Sonomi fussed over Sakura while pointedly ignoring Fujitaka.

"Happy new year, Mrs. Daidouji." Sakura said politely.

"Sakura, how about we go get our fortune and then we can go to Li's house?" Tomoyo told her friend.

Sakura was meeting Eriol after this. So, she definitely didn't want to go with Tomoyo. "I'd love to, Tomoyo, but I'm going home to clean and then help Dad prepare for New Year dinner." Sakura said as she looked pleadingly at her father.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry, Tomoyo. I'm afraid I need Sakura's help today." Fujitaka caught on, much to Sakura's relief.

"Oh, that's alright then. I'll see you at school?" Tomoyo said.

"See you at school." Sakura nodded and then she left with her Dad.

"Thank you, Dad." Sakura told him after they had walked away from the other two.

"You're welcome. But don't you think it's time to tell her?" Fujitaka asked.

"I will. Soon." Sakura nodded. She was going to tell Tomoyo soon, outcomes be damned. She was tired of sneaking around and letting Tomoyo play match maker for her and Syaoran. She had wanted to tell her after the class trip, seeing that Syaoran had found out, but they got busy with tests.

Fifteen minutes later, they spotted Eriol waiting for her at the intersection.

"Oh, there's Eriol." Fujitaka said. They greeted him and wished each other Happy New Year before parting ways.

"Don't forget about dinner." Fujitaka reminded them and waved at them.

"We won't, Dad. We're just going to the park and then we'll be right over." Sakura told her Dad. They were going to a short new year date before dinner.

* * *

Sakura arrived at the café where Tomoyo had asked her to meet her. She had sounded quite worried and urgent on the phone, so Sakura had called Eriol, told him she couldn't make it for training today, and had rushed here instead.

She looked around, looking for her friend, but couldn't find her.

"Sakura?" Sakura turned around to see Syaoran standing there.

"Syaoran? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked confusedly.

"Daidouji asked me to meet her here. She said it's urgent." Syaoran said.

And then, they both realized that they had been played.

"Okay, that's it!" Sakura said. "I've had enough of this!"

"You have to tell her, Sakura. It's getting ridiculous." Syaoran told her.

"You're right. This is getting ridiculous." Sakura agreed. It was time to tell Tomoyo then. "She's going to be so mad when she finds out."

"Come on, I'll go with you and we can tell her together, since I'm already here and all. Then maybe we can _finally_ get it into her head." Syaoran said. Sakura agreed and they went to Tomoyo's house.

Tomoyo looked surprised to see them.

"Mind telling us why you asked us to meet you urgently and then _you_ didn't show?" Sakura asked, glaring at Tomoyo.

"I thought you two might want to talk." Tomoyo said and she didn't even show any sign of remorse or guilt whatsoever.

"About what, exactly?" Sakura continued to glare at her friend.

"The two of you are getting closer. I can see that." Tomoyo told them.

"That's what happens when you're friends, Tomoyo." Sakura said. "When you called, I got so worried, I dropped everything and went to the café right away to see you! How could you do this?"

"You really have to stop doing this, Daidouji." Syaoran chimed in.

Tomoyo turned to him. "But Li, you shouldn't give up."

"I'm going back to Hong Kong." Syaoran finally told her. "And Sakura and I are not going to get together. You have to accept that."

Tomoyo looked shocked. "You… You're going back to Hong Kong?" She turned to Sakura and noted the lack of surprise on her friend's face. "And you knew?!"

"Yes, Syaoran told me during our class trip." Sakura said. "Tomoyo, this is not happening. You have to let this go."

Tomoyo looked at them. "It doesn't mean that this has to be the end. You two can do a long-distance relationship."

"No, Tomoyo. Just no. This," Sakura gestured at her and Syaoran, "is not going to happen! Not now, not ever!" She then turned to Syaoran, "No offense, Syaoran."

"None taken." Syaoran shrugged. He realized then that he had truly gotten over her.

"But why not?" Tomoyo asked stubbornly.

"Because I already have a boyfriend!" Sakura finally yelled at her.

Tomoyo looked shocked. "You have a…" She stared at Sakura and then her eyes widened. "Hiiragizawa."

"Yes. Hiiragizawa." Sakura said. She had to admit, it felt good to finally let it out.

Tomoyo continued to stare at her. "No! Sakura, he's…"

"He's what? He's not good, he's going to hurt me? Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't be with him then." Sakura said, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Because… Because after what he did, I don't think you should trust him anymore. I know you think he's a good person, but who knows what he's thinking? He hid those things from you for months and he pretended to be your friend, while doing all those things behind your back. He might've meant well and all that, but it still doesn't change the fact that he betrayed you and your trust!" Tomoyo said. She was still in a bit of a shock.

"That is the most honest thing you've said to me in regard to this thing." Sakura said after a short pause. "And I've hidden this from you for months too, guess that makes me just like him then."

"Months?" Tomoyo asked quietly.

"We got together during spring holiday." Since it was now out in the open, Sakura didn't see the point of lying about it.

Tomoyo's shock slowly turned into anger. "Why didn't you tell me?" How could Sakura hide this from her? Suddenly Tomoyo could see it. Why Sakura was so angry during that trip to the teddy bear exhibition, how they were spending so much time together, how Sakura had always defended him, the haunted house incident, why he was so worried when Sakura went missing during their class trip, and everything else. Everything made sense and Tomoyo couldn't believe that she'd missed all that. "It's his idea, isn't it? To hide this from me."

"Actually, it's _my_ idea. He just went along with it. If you want to blame anyone, blame me." Sakura told her firmly. "As to why, well, why do you think? You've been trying so hard to get me and Syaoran together, if you knew about us, you would've tried just as hard to break us up, wouldn't you?" Sakura asked her.

"I…" Tomoyo didn't know what to say.

"I thought so." Sakura nodded. "I've had enough of this, Tomoyo. You've been treating him so badly and I'm not going to let that happen anymore. He's been so patient with me, with you, and he doesn't want to make me choose, so, he's been letting me do this my way." Sakura paused and when she continued, her tone turned gentler. "I'm happy, Tomoyo. He makes me happy. I know you're angry and that's okay. I don't blame you. I did lie to you. But I hope that one day, you'll be able to forgive me."

Tomoyo was silent. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Sakura."

"I know. And I thank you for that. You've been taking care of me for a long time, Tomoyo and I can't thank you enough. But this is, _he_ is the best thing that has ever happened to me." Sakura said sincerely.

Tomoyo asked, "How can you be so sure that he won't hurt you?"

"I can't." Sakura said honestly. "Nobody can know that for sure. He might hurt me, or I might hurt him. I did, actually. We had a fight a few months ago and I did hurt him." Sakura frowned. "In every relationship, be it a romantic relationship, a friendship, a family, or any other type of relationship, there's _always_ a risk of getting hurt. But it's a risk that I'm willing to take because he is worth it, because this relationship is worth taking that risk."

Tomoyo and Syaoran were both silent as they considered her words.

"I…" Tomoyo looked at Sakura. "It, it might take a while for me to get used to this, but If you're happy, then I'm happy too, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at her then. "Thank you, Tomoyo. I am happy. And thank you for being so understanding."

The two friends hugged.

"But if he does hurt you…" Tomoyo said after they broke apart.

"Get in line. You'll be behind Kero. Touya is the first one in line." Sakura said laughingly. "But all jokes aside, if he does hurt me, I know I can count of you to be there for me, can't I?" She gave Tomoyo a genuine smile.

Tomoyo nodded. "Of course, Sakura."

"I'm happy for you two. Now, can I go? This is getting too mushy…" Syaoran said.

The two laughed.

* * *

"That went well." Eriol commented after Sakura told him about what happened.

"I'm really glad." Sakura nodded. "Now we don't have to hide anymore. We don't have to sneak around and pretend." She took his hand. "I can finally hold your hand in public without worrying that one of our friends might see us. In retrospect, maybe we should've done that months ago. But I quite liked the sneaking around. It's weird, right?" Sakura frowned slightly.

"It was like we have our own little secret, yes." He said. "I quite liked it too."

"Now I don't have to worry about any girl confessing to you." Sakura said, recalling their fight. "Now they'll know that you're taken."

"I'm already taken from a long time ago, Saku." He pulled her into his arms and wrapped his arms loosely around her.

She blushed. "You're saying silly things again."

"I love you." He told her simply, truthfully. He could say it as often as he wanted to now that she had more or less told him. Sakura herself had never said the words, but he didn't mind.

"I love you too." Sakura said, blushing furiously. This was the first time that she had said it out loud.

At first, Eriol was stunned, but then he grinned widely. She finally told him!

Sakura looked at him shyly. "Eriol?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy." He was still grinning madly. "Thank you for saying it, Saku." And with that, he kissed her.

* * *

Once they didn't have to hide from Tomoyo, they stopped hiding their relationship altogether and the news quickly spread among their friends. Tomoyo's attitude towards Eriol slowly changed too. While she wasn't exactly being friendly, she had made some conscious efforts to be nice to him, which Sakura appreciated.

"Sakura, do you want to go to the stationary store after school?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah, sure." Sakura agreed.

Tomoyo seemed to remember something and glanced over at Eriol, who was at the other side of the room, talking to Yamazaki. "Uh…"

"He has soccer practice." Sakura said before Tomoyo could ask the question. "It's okay, Tomoyo. You don't have to include him every time. Just please don't leave him out on purpose." Sakura continued.

After the bell rang, Sakura went to Eriol before he left for practice. "I'm going to the stationary store. Do you need anything?"

He thought for a second. "A new sketchbook."

"Okay. Have a good practice!" Sakura said and then left with Tomoyo.

They arrived at the store and Tomoyo got some new notebooks.

Sakura thought she should also get some supplies for herself since she was here. She went to the get the sketchbook first and then got herself some new pencils and notebooks. They paid for their items and left the store.

As they were walking along the street, Sakura's phone rang. She was surprised to see Syaoran's name on the display. "Hello, Syaoran?"

"Hi, Sakura... Um, it's Hiiragizawa. He fell and hurt himself. Can you come and get him?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat and she stopped in her tracks. "I'll be right there. Thanks, Syaoran."

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked, noting Sakura's look.

"Eriol fell during practice. I'm going back to the school to get him. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Sakura said hastily.

"Wait, Sakura. I'll go with you. In case you need help." Tomoyo told her. "We're not that far from school anyway."

"Thanks, Tomoyo." Sakura smiled at her gratefully.

They quickly made their way to school and Sakura was worried. ' _Isn't he supposed to heal himself?_ ' She thought.

They went to the field but were told that he was brought to the school clinic. So, they headed there instead. When they got there, Sakura quickly went inside while Tomoyo hung back, lingering at the door.

"Eriol!" Sakura rushed to him when she saw him sitting on the bed. Two of his clubmates stood near him.

"Oh, hi, Sakura. I'm okay. Don't worry." Eriol told her with a smile. Sakura could see a band-aid on his knee as he had rolled up his pants.

"He's fine, Kinomoto. Just some scrapes and a twisted ankle. Nothing to worry about." One of his teammates informed her. "Go home and take it easy, ok?" They told him.

Eriol nodded. "Yes, thanks."

"Thank you, guys." Sakura bowed to them in thanks and they left.

"Alright, Hiiragizawa, get some rest, put some ice on it." The nurse told him.

"I will. Thank you." Eriol thanked her.

"Thank you." Sakura bowed in thanks too.

The nurse then left to do some work on her desk.

"Where's your coat?" Sakura asked. It was still January and it was cold outside.

"In the gym bag." He said as he rolled down his pants. Sakura opened his gym bag and took out his coat. She helped him put it on.

Sakura helped him down and wrapped one arm around his waist as his arm went around her shoulders. He grabbed his bags from the bed and then they made their way to the door.

"What happened?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"It was an accident." Eriol told her. "I'm fine. I'll be fine." He continued.

When they reached the door, Eriol greeted Tomoyo. "Daidouji."

"Hiiragizawa." Tomoyo greeted him. She had watched how worried Sakura was and how she had fussed over him. Tomoyo could tell that her friend really cared for him. At this point, Tomoyo realized that this was not just some close friendship or a simple crush. That was when it hit her fully that Sakura really did have a boyfriend and looking at their closeness, it was very clear that their relationship was not something new. She couldn't believe that she didn't notice it before. "Do you need any help? Tomoyo offered.

"It's fine, Tomoyo. Thanks." Sakura told her friend with a smile.

"I thought you could heal yourself?" Sakura asked after they parted ways with Tomoyo a while later.

"I can, but I couldn't do it in front of twenty over people." He said. "Had to hold my magic back before the healing process kicked off." They then turned into an alley where there was nobody around. He healed himself quickly and then he was back on his feet, much to Sakura's relief.

"How did you even fall in the first place?" Sakura asked as they started walking back to their houses.

"It was an accident. Someone tripped me and I, well, I had to let myself fall. Otherwise it would look suspicious if I just levitated." He explained. He didn't have to let himself fall, but the angle had made it such that if he hadn't fallen, there would be some questions.

"The things we do to hide our magic." Sakura shook her head. They got to her house and she handed him his new sketchbook. "Be careful walking home, okay?"

He nodded and then left.

* * *

Nakuru opened the door to reveal Tomoyo and Syaoran.

"Come in, come in!" Nakuru ushered them in. "Sakura and Eriol are still training, but they'll be done soon."

The four of them were in a group together for a group project and they had agreed to meet up here to finalize the project, which was due on the following Monday.

"Uh, training?" Syaoran asked. While they knew of Sakura's training, they'd never actually seen any of it. In fact, this was the first time that they had been here in this house in years.

"Yes." Nakuru nodded. "Would you like to see?"

Both nodded and Nakuru led them to the garden.

Sakura was up in the air while Eriol was standing on the ground. When Sakura caught sight of her friends, she stopped mid-air to greet them.

"Hi guys!" Sakura waved at them.

Eriol smirked as he saw her getting distracted and decided to use this as a learning opportunity. He shot a blast at her and it hit her squarely on her wings, causing it to disappear and her to plunge down to the ground.

"Sakura!" Both Syaoran and Tomoyo watched in horror as they saw Sakura heading straight to the ground. But instead of hitting the ground, she was caught by an air cushion and was lowered to the ground gently.

"What was that for?" Sakura turned to Eriol.

"For getting distracted during training." He said simply, still smirking. He walked to her and held out his hand to help her get back up.

"I was just saying hi…" Sakura pouted at him as she accepted his offered hand. He pulled her to her feet and then they both recalled their staff before turning to greet their friends properly.

They headed inside and started working on their project.

"Right, so we just need to work on the conclusion now." Sakura said. They were sitting around the kitchen table, their laptops in front of them and there were papers and books strewn about on the table. "We're almost there!"

"Not quite." Eriol told her. "We are not done with the graphs and the tables just yet."

Sakura turned to him. "You're no fun." Then she got up to get some drink.

Tomoyo watched as Sakura navigated her way around the kitchen. It was clear that she was familiar with his kitchen and she knew where everything was. She took a glass from the cupboard, opened the fridge, and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Tomoyo and Syaoran themselves had been given some drinks and their drinks were currently sitting on the table near them. It wasn't lost to Tomoyo either that Sakura was wearing a pair of fluffy bunny slippers instead of the normal slippers usually reserved for guests, like the ones that she and Syaoran were wearing now.

"You ran out of egg." Sakura commented absentmindedly as she put the orange juice back in the fridge.

"I'll go get some later." Eriol had his eyes on the screen in front of him as he said it.

Sakura went back to her seat and placed her drink near her. "Alright, let's finish this so that I can have some relaxing Sunday."

"You still have two other homework that you haven't even touched." Eriol pointed out before turning his laptop around for Tomoyo and Syaoran to see. "If we do it this way, we can include the graph in the appendix list instead of messing with the document." He continued to explain what he meant. In the end, they all agreed with him and they started working on finishing their project.

* * *

"Sakura, are you trying to give him diabetes?" Kero asked as they both looked at the giant chocolate that Sakura had made for Eriol for Valentine's Day.

Sakura sweat-dropped. "Kero!"

"That is a huge chocolate!" Kero said, pointing at it.

"I know… You're right. I think it's too big." Sakura admitted. She broke the chocolate into a few pieces then put them back in the pot for reheating. Kero nabbed some for himself before Sakura put everything in the pot..

"Now it doesn't look as nice." Sakura said sadly. She had put the melted chocolate in a different mold, but it looked slightly rough. She then put it in the fridge.

"I don't think he'll care that much." Kero said as he munched on his own chocolate.

The next day, Sakura and Eriol sat together at the back of the school during lunch.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Saku." Eriol smiled widely. "Here, this is for you. You'll get the rest of them after school." He presented her with a single red rose.

"Thank you!" Sakura took the rose from him. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too." Sakura handed him the chocolate with a smile across her face.

"Thank you." He unwrapped it. "You made me a chocolate?"

"Yes. Hope you'll like it. Sorry about the shape." Sakura said.

Eriol took a bite and smiled happily. "I love it." He told her. "I love you."

Sakura smiled at him widely.

"We still have a little bit of time. How about I play you a song or two?" He asked later they finished their lunch. He ended up eating the whole chocolate for lunch. Kero was right, he didn't care about the shape. He was just happy that she made him a chocolate.

"I'd love that." Sakura smiled happily.

They headed to the music room and he played her some love songs at the piano.

After school, Eriol gave her a bouquet of eleven red roses. Sakura put the single rose that he gave her earlier to make it a dozen.


	17. Chapter 17

Sakura and her friends were gathering together for Syaoran's farewell party. Tomoyo had organized the party and it was held in one of the restaurants downtown. They had just graduated Junior High two days ago, and everyone was excited for High school in a couple of weeks.

While not all of their classmates were there, the whole gang was there, Tomoyo, Sakura, Eriol, Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Yamazaki, along with some guys from the soccer club who had been particularly close with Syaoran.

The atmosphere was lively, but there was a lingering sentimental sadness in the air that was usually associated with farewell party. They shared past stories, funny anecdotes, and jokes and everyone seemed to be having a good time. They also took a lot of group pictures with him.

They all had chipped in some money to get Syaoran his farewell gift, which they handed to him at the end of the party.

"Here is from all of us, Li. We all wish you the best of luck back in Hong Kong." Syaoran's now-former soccer captain presented him with a nicely wrapped box.

"Thanks, guys." Syaoran thanked them and they took turns saying goodbye to him.

After the party was over, everyone went home. Sakura, Eriol, and Tomoyo were going to meet Syaoran at the airport tomorrow.

"It's sad. I've known him for years and now, who knows when we're going to see him again." Sakura said as she and Eriol walked home together.

"Hong Kong is not too far from here. I'm sure we'll have the chance to visit each other." Eriol wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Besides, with today's technology, practically everyone is just a phone call away."

"You're right. And there's email now instead of the more traditional letters. It sure is easier to stay in touch with each other these days." Sakura agreed. They arrived at her house and Sakura turned to him. "I'll see you tomorrow. Are we meeting at the station or are you picking me up?"

"I'll pick you up. I'll be here by ten." Eriol told her. Sakura went inside and he walked home.

The next day, Sakura, Eriol and Tomoyo arrived at the airport at 11am . They found Syaoran and Wei ready to go inside.

"I'm going to miss you!" Sakura said. "Don't forget to write or call, okay? And visit us when you can."

Syaoran nodded. "I will."

"Send my regards to Meiling too." Sakura told him and he nodded.

Next, it was Tomoyo's turn to say goodbye.

Lastly, Eriol shook his hand. "It's been a pleasure, Syaoran. I look forward to meeting you again. Good luck with your training."

Syaoran nodded. "Until next time, Hiiragizawa."

They waved as Syaoran and Wei disappeared behind the immigration line.

* * *

"Tomoyo, I need your help." Sakura told her friend over the phone a few days later. "Eriol's birthday is coming up, which also happens to be our anniversary. He's taking me to a nice restaurant, and I want to make it a special day for him."

"Let's meet at the mall tomorrow then, Sakura. Also I might have some dress that would be great for the special occasion!" Tomoyo said excitedly. She had always loved dressing Sakura up in her designs. Once Tomoyo got used to the idea of Sakura and Eriol as a couple and saw how happy Sakura was, she was truly happy for her friend.

The next day, Sakura and Tomoyo met at the mall. They walked around, looking at the various shops and Tomoyo dragged her to a shoe store.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sakura asked doubtfully as she looked at her feet. "How am I even going to walk in these things?"

"Oh, but they look so pretty on you, Sakura! And I have just the right dress that would go nicely with them." Tomoyo gushed.

"Uh, okay." Sakura said as she looked at the bright pink high heels. She had to admit that while it wasn't her style, they were quite pretty, and she had wanted to make it a special day for him after all.

Sakura had always been a tomboy. Maybe it was because she grew up without a mother or maybe it was just her personality. She was athletic, quick on her feet, and energetic. She kept her hair short for easy management and wear comfortable clothing that allowed her to move about freely. Sakura had noticed that her girlfriends were starting to wear makeup and high heels, while she preferred to wear sneakers, flats, or slip-on shoes. She had also seen that they moved and walked in a certain feminine way; deliberate, slow, and graceful, while Sakura would walk and skip around energetically.

_"_ _We're going to high school soon. So we have to start acting more mature and be like a woman." Naoko had said the other day when Sakura asked her why she started wearing makeup. "There will be many pretty women in high school. So, you have to be pretty too. Boys like pretty women."_

_Rika had agreed with her and added. "It's even more important for you because you have a boyfriend, Sakura. You have to be pretty for him. Guys like that. They want their girlfriends to be beautiful. Also, like Naoko said, boys like to look at pretty women, so if you're not pretty enough, he might look another way."_

Sakura had thought a lot about what her friends said, and thus, on the day itself, she had submitted herself to Tomoyo's beauty makeover despite being uncomfortable with the whole thing.

"You look very pretty, Sakura!" Tomoyo told her.

Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror and she didn't recognize herself. She was wearing makeup and Tomoyo had styled her hair into some elaborate hairstyle. Since Sakura's hair was quite short, Tomoyo could only work with what was there, but it was certainly different form her usual style. Sakura was wearing one of Tomoyo's dresses. It was soft pink with some flowery designs. The dress itself was sleeveless and form fitting at the top and the hem of the skirt reached her mid-thigh. To complete her look, Tomoyo had also given her a lightweight pink shawl.

"Uh, I don't know, Tomoyo. It doesn't look like me." Sakura said unsurely.

"Nonsense, Sakura. You look very beautiful. Don't you think so, Kero?" Tomoyo turned to the guardian.

"Well, you look different." Kero started, but he noticed the uncertain frown on his Mistress' face and quickly added, "But Tomoyo is right, you look pretty."

After reassuring her once again how beautiful she looked, Tomoyo left to go home, leaving Sakura to wait for Eriol. Five minutes later, Eriol rang the doorbell.

Sakura opened the door and saw him standing there. He was dressed in white shirt, red tie and black suit and black boots. He was also holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

Eriol looked surprised as he took in her appearance.

"Hi!" Sakura greeted him. "Happy birthday! And happy anniversary!"

A smile spread across his face. "Happy anniversary!" He handed her the bouquet. Sakura went inside to put the flowers in the vase and then she went back to the front door, put on her high heels and they were out of the door and into the taxi.

They arrived at the restaurant ten minutes later and were seated down at their table.

"This place is really nice." Sakura looked around. It was a fancy restaurant, unlike anything that Sakura had ever visited before.

"It's newly opened. I heard it's quite good and I thought this would be a perfect time to try it." He said as he browsed the menu.

"Eriol, why is there no price on them?" Sakura noticed that the menu only listed the items, but there was no price.

"Just order whatever you want, Saku. Don't worry about it." Eriol assured her.

They ordered and then talked while they waited for their foods to arrive.

"You're wearing makeup." Eriol said carefully.

Sakura nodded shyly. "It's a special day, so I asked for Tomoyo's help." She admitted. She wasn't sure if she liked the end product, but she did look very different from her everyday self. "Is, is this okay?" Sakura asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

Eriol just nodded. "Yes, of course. I'm just surprised, that's all."

Their foods came and they started eating. Sakura really liked her food and thought it was excellent.

"Do you like it?" Eriol asked with a smile.

"I do. It's so yummy." Sakura smiled widely.

"I'm glad. Then we can come here again in the future." He had liked the food too.

After desserts, Eriol paid for the meal and they left.

"That's very expensive, Eriol." Sakura had noticed how much he paid and had understood why there was no price on the menu. They decided to walk around for a bit before going home. Sakura had slipped her hand around Eriol's arm, partly because she wanted to, but mostly because she needed help to steady herself. While Sakura had practiced walking around in her high heels, she was still wobbly. It didn't help that Sakura had felt that her dress was a little too short to her liking and she found herself trying subtly to pull down at the hem every now and then.

"It's alright, Saku. Like you said, it's a special day." Eriol told her.

They walked around and after a while, Sakura could feel her feet starting to hurt. Walking became more and more difficult and painful with every step, but she didn't say anything.

Sakura also couldn't help but notice that other than that one comment about her makeup, he didn't make any other comment about her look and Sakura wasn't sure what to make of that. He had also been quiet all evening and while he was still being attentive to her and smiling at her, she could tell that something was bothering him.

"Sakura?"

Eriol's voice brought her back from her musings. She turned to him and noticed his worried look. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" He asked, frowning slightly.

' _No, my feet hurt, my dress is too short, and I don't feel like myself._ ' Sakura thought, but she nodded anyway. "I'm okay, Eriol. Why?"

He gave her a look and then said, "Nothing. Shall we go to the park?" He asked.

Sakura thought it was weird that he had suggested it but had agreed anyway. They walked to the park nearby and he led her to the benches.

"Here, why don't we sit down for a bit." He guided her to sit down on the bench.

Sakura gratefully sat down and was relieved to have a chance to rest her feet for a little while. To her surprise, instead of sitting down beside her, Eriol got down to his knees by her feet.

"Eriol? What are you doing?" Sakura asked with surprise.

Silently, Eriol took hold of one of her legs and removed the high heel from her foot. "Your feet are red and blistering. You're basically limping." He said and looked up at her. "Why are you wearing these, Saku? The hair, the makeup, the dress, and these."

Sakura was quiet for a moment. "Because… Because it's a special day."

Eriol looked at her steadily. "But you're very uncomfortable in them."

Sakura thought of denying it, but finally nodded. "I don't feel like myself. My feet hurt and the dress is too short. I walk funny and can't even stand. But it's your birthday and it's our first anniversary, so I want to look pretty for you, just like my friends."

"Like your friends?" Eriol asked confusedly.

Sakura nodded. "They're very pretty, with their dresses, makeup, and high heels. My friends said I should start wearing makeup and high heels. They're also very graceful and very ladylike. I'm not, I'm not like them…" Sakura lowered her head shamefully. She wasn't pretty, she wasn't ladylike, and what if Eriol noticed other girls, women, in high school and looked at them instead?

Eriol sighed, feeling annoyed at her friends. "What else?" He knew that there were more to it than just makeup, dresses and high heels.

Sakura hesitated. "They also said that guys like to look at pretty women and there are many of them in high school. Boys want their girlfriends to look beautiful. So, I have to start looking pretty, start looking like a woman. Otherwise…" Sakura paused and averted her eyes away from his face. "Otherwise, you'll start looking at other women if I'm not pretty enough." She finished up quietly.

Now Eriol cursed silently at her friends. "Sakura, look at me." Eriol said and waited until she turned her eyes back at him. "Listen to me very carefully, okay? First, you don't need these," He gestured towards her general direction, "to look pretty. You don't need to change your hair, put on makeup, wear dresses that are too short or shoes that are too high, to look pretty, especially not for me. If you haven't noticed, Saku, I'm not like any other boys. I don't care about those women. Why would I want to look at any other woman when I already have you?" He moved to sit beside her, and then he took her hand in his. "Sakura, I didn't fall in love with your dress, or your shoes, or your makeup. I fell in love with you. I fell in love with your smile, your eyes, your enthusiasm, your kindness, and your eagerness to help others. Those are just some of the things that I love about you. I appreciate it that you've dressed up for me on this special day. If you want to wear a dress, makeup and high heels, that's okay, as long as you're comfortable with them. But remember this, no matter what you wear, you are, and you will always be the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen."

Sakura looked at him and blushed. "Even… Even when I'm wearing T-shirt and sneakers? When I jump around instead of moving gracefully like them?" She asked because she was aware that she could never be like them, move like them.

"Even when you're jumping around in your T-shirt and sneakers. And that is even better. You know why?" He asked. Sakura shook her head. "Because you can't run to me and jump into my arms in these things." He pointed at her high heels. "You are quick on your feet and you're always on the move. These are not for you. These are not made for the girl whom I fell in love with a long time ago or the young woman whom I'm in love with now. You, my dear, are perfect just the way you are. Don't ever let anyone else tell you otherwise."

Sakura blushed deeper but nodded her head shyly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have listened to them. They meant well though."

"I know they did, but please don't let them get into your head with this idea that you are not beautiful just because you don't dress like them. Don't let anyone make you think that alright?"

Sakura nodded. "I just want to be good enough for you."

"You're more than good enough for me, Saku. I love you just the way you are. Don't ever doubt that." He told her sincerely before kissing her.

They sat there for a while, just enjoying each other's company and then Sakura said, "Eriol, I don't think I can walk home in these."

He chuckled. "That's pretty easy to remedy." He waved his hand and Sakura's high heels turned into a pair of flats. "There, I'm sure you'll find those more comfortable."

Sakura looked at her shoes. "You should be a fashion designer. Just wave your hand and poof, you have a new style of clothes."

He laughed. "Unfortunately, I don't know enough about women's fashion to be able to create some clothes out of this air."

"Let's go home then." Sakura said. They got up and left to walk home.


	18. Chapter 18

_A month later…_

"Kinomoto?" Sakura heard her name being called from the doorway and saw one of her clubmates standing there. He was a senior and was assigned as Sakura's 'buddy' in the club.

"Oh, Iwata what is it?" Sakura went to the door.

They talked for a while and he told her the club location for this week and which art supplies she should prepare. Sakura was in the art club and every couple of weeks, they would move the location of the club, sometimes even going as far as getting outside of the school ground.

"Thank you." Sakura thanked him and then went back to her desk.

"Who's that, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked curiously.

"That's my clubmate, Iwata. He's a third-year student, assigned as my 'buddy'. He's just telling me about the club location this week and the necessary art supplies." Sakura explained.

As always, Tomoyo was in choir, and Eriol had joined the chess club this year.

A few days later, Eriol and his clubmates were walking towards the classroom where they held the club meetings when one of them said, "Hiiragizawa, isn't that your girlfriend?"

Eriol turned to the window and saw Sakura talking animatedly with a guy as they walked together. Sakura was smiling and laughing as she listened to what the guy was saying. They stopped walking and then the guy opened his sketchbook and showed her something. Sakura looked very excited.

"That's Iwata." One of Eriol's clubmates, a third-year student, said. "He's my classmate. Easy on the eyes and he knows it. He's quite a player too. I'll be careful if I were you, Hiiragizawa. If he sets his eyes on her..." He trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence to everyone's imagination.

"Thank you for the advice, Itou." Eriol simply said.

Three weeks passed by and Sakura was spending more time with Iwata, even outside of club hours. Now she talked about him and his drawings often. Even Tomoyo became worried.

"Sakura, you and this Iwata guy seem to be getting close." Tomoyo said one day when they were sitting together at the cafeteria.

"What do you mean? He's just being nice to me by showing me how to improve my drawing. I learned a lot from him." Sakura said.

"I don't think your boyfriend is happy about that." Tomoyo reminded Sakura.

"Eriol?" Sakura asked. "Tomoyo, there's nothing between me and Iwata. He's just a clubmate. Honestly…"

"I'm not the one that you need to convince about that." Tomoyo pointed out.

"Eriol knows that I'm not interested in any other guy, Tomoyo." Sakura told her.

"Right, so if he's the one who's been spending time with some girl, even if he's not interested in her, you'd be okay with that?" Tomoyo asked Sakura.

Sakura was quiet.

"I thought so. Just because he knows, doesn't mean that he likes it, Sakura." Tomoyo told her friend. Sakura could be oblivious sometimes when it came to guys. It was her nature to be kind and friendly to everyone. That was what had led to the whole misunderstanding with Syaoran in the first place. Everyone thought that she had liked him. Tomoyo thought that having a boyfriend would change that. Apparently not.

"And only a few months ago, you hated him with passion." Sakura said, remembering how hostile Tomoyo was towards Eriol. "Eriol is different. He's not like any other guys. He's not going to let his emotions get in the way. He's much more mature than that."

"He might not be like any other guys, but he's still a guy and you're still his girlfriend." Tomoyo told her. "Just be careful, okay?"

* * *

"That's silly, right?" Sakura asked Eriol. They were sitting in his living room after training and they were just hanging out. "I told her that you're not going to get jealous over some guy. It's beneath you. But she said…" Sakura's sentence was cut off.

"It's not beneath me." Eriol said quietly.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Daidouji is right." Eriol told her.

Sakura blinked. "You're… jealous?"

"Of course, I'm jealous. You're my girlfriend and you spend so much time with this guy. Just because I'm not like any other guys, doesn't mean that I don't have feelings." He admitted sullenly.

Sakura looked at him. "But you're… Eriol." Sakura finished off lamely.

"Yes." He laughed then, but there was no trace of humor in it. "I, Eriol, get jealous over some _teenage boy_. Look at what you have reduced me to."

Sakura looked at him. "But you know I'm not interested in him. I'm not interested in any other guy but you."

"Could've fooled me…" He muttered.

"What does that suppose to mean?!" Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"You talk about him and his drawings all the time. Lately, it's always been Iwata this, Iwata that. You're smiling with him and laughing with him. What am I supposed to think?" He asked her jealously.

Sakura sighed. "Now you're being ridiculous."

"Am I? Maybe you're not interested in him _now_. How about next week? Next month?" He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"That is the stupidest thing that you have ever said! How could you say that?! You _know_ I love you!" Sakura yelled at him.

"I cannot predict feelings, remember?" Eriol reminded her dryly.

Sakura stood up then. "You're being a jerk right now! How could you doubt my feelings for you?! How could you say that my feelings would change just because some guy shows me some drawings?!"

Eriol didn't say anything as he sat there in his armchair, looking miserable.

Sakura wiped her tears angrily. She didn't want to cry, but she was so angry and hurt that he had thought her feelings for him would change just because of some guy with drawings. Sakura sat back down as the fight was drained from her. "All the things that you've said to me, of how much you love me, just because I don't say it as much, doesn't mean that I don't feel the same way. I created The Love card for you, Eriol. Just for you. Is it still not enough for you? What else do you want from me? How else can I show you that just because you've loved me for longer, it doesn't mean that I don't love you just as much?" Sakura buried her face in her hands as she started crying.

Eriol stared at her as he realized what he had done. He immediately berated himself. How could he do this to her? How could he say these things to her? How could he hurt her like this? Doubt her like this? He'd let some guy got into his head and make him doubt her love for him.

"Saku, I'm sorry." Eriol knelt down in front of her. "I'm so sorry." He said as he tried to pry her hands from her face gently. "I'm so sorry for doubting you. I'm being stupid." He pulled her down with him. She didn't resist. He held her in his arms as he sat down on the floor. "I'm sorry I've hurt you. I've let my own insecurities got in the way."

"I love you." Sakura told him tearfully. "I don't say it as much, but I do."

"I know. I'm an idiot. You're right. I'm a jerk for doubting you." He rocked her gently. "One of his classmates is my clubmate and he told me that Iwata is a charming fellow, and then I saw you and him, and how you talk about him, and I got jealous. I'm sorry." Eriol brushed his lips on her hair. "I've hurt you."

"I laughed with him and smiled because I didn't want to be rude. He's a senior and he's been helping me with my drawing skills, and I appreciate his help, but that's all. I'm not interested in him in any way. I never will. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you jealous." Sakura said, sniffling.

"Turns out, I'm not that different from other guys after all." Eriol told her a few minutes later. He had shifted them into a more comfortable position. He now sat with his back against the sofa and Sakura was snuggling up to his side, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her head resting in the crook between his neck and shoulder. "I get jealous too. I've had two lifetimes and you are the only one who can make me feel this way."

"I'll talk to the teacher and ask for a different buddy. The orientation period is almost over though, so I don't know if that's possible." Sakura told him.

"No, it's okay. You just do what you need to do. If he's helping you, then you should learn from him too." Eriol said.

"Are you sure?" Sakura didn't want a repeat performance of today.

Eriol nodded. "I'm sure."

Ever since that day, Sakura had never mentioned Iwata's name again, and two weeks later, the club orientation period was over.

* * *

A few weeks later, Sakura and her girlfriends went to get their lunch in the cafeteria. Sakura bought two cookies, one for herself, and was planning to give the other one to Eriol. After lunch, the girls walked back to their classroom and saw Eriol and Yamazaki were at it again. This time, they had found a couple of unsuspecting students in their class and were bombarding them with unwanted information about something that the girls didn't quite catch, nor care about.

Sakura and Chiharu looked at each other, before they grabbed their respective boyfriend and dragged them away from the students and each other. Yamazaki was still talking as Chiharu told the students not to listen to them. Sakura dragged Eriol all the way to the back, as far away as possible from Yamazaki, and sat him down at his desk before giving him the cookie to keep him busy.

"You got me a cookie!" He said and then he happily sat there and ate. Sakura just shook her head in amusement. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that he was the reincarnation of Clow Reed and that he was the most powerful magician in the world. When he was like this, Sakura just found him adorable.

"Why are you two always lying?" Sakura asked him later on their way home from school. "And how did you even come up with all those things anyway? Did you two practice it?" To be honest, sometimes Sakura was amazed at how Eriol and Yamazaki could do what they do without missing a beat. It was like a practiced move.

"Who said we're lying?" Eriol asked her.

Sakura gaped. "You mean, all of those things that you said are true?"

"Not everything. Some of them are true, others are whatever made up facts that we come up with at that moment. That's how we can come up with so many of them. When you tell a lie, to make it believable and plausible, you need to throw in a truth or two in it. That way, your audience will not get suspicious. A good liar is someone who knows how to mix it up." Eriol explained. "When one of us was talking, the other was thinking of what to say next, a truth or a lie, then we combine the two, with our own knowledge and imagination. That way, we don't even need to practice anything."

Sakura looked amazed. "It's like a magic trick."

"Exactly." He nodded.

"You must know how to be a good liar then? An excellent liar even." Sakura asked. While her question sounded innocent enough, there was a hidden meaning behind it.

Eriol stopped walking then. "I will never lie to you, Saku." He said seriously. "I promise you, I will never lie to you."

"That's going to be a difficult one to keep, Eriol." Sakura pointed out. Even she might not be able to keep that.

"It is, but I will keep it." Eriol told her firmly. That was going to be tough and sometimes he might have to be creative. But he would never lie to her. "If you want the truth, all you need to do is ask me. If I can't tell you the answer, for whatever reasons, I will tell you that. But I will not lie to you. I promise."

Sakura nodded. Just like with most other things, she would need to learn how to ask him the right question. But he would give her the honest answer. "Okay."

He smiled and they resumed walking. "Try not to be our 'victim', okay? This promise will ruin our show." He said with a smirk.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

* * *

"Sakura, are you okay?" Tomoyo asked worriedly as she saw her friend sitting at her desk, her head on the table.

"No…" Sakura told her honestly. They had a math test earlier today and Sakura didn't do so well. "I'm so going to fail that test." She said miserably.

"Of course not, Sakura. Don't worry. You're going to be fine, I'm sure." Tomoyo said encouragingly. Tomoyo looked around and saw Yamazaki with Chiharu. "Where's Hiiragizawa?" Eriol would either hang out with Yamazaki or Sakura during breaks, and since Yamazaki was there with Chiharu…

"Getting some drinks from the cafeteria." Sakura told her before lifting up her head. "I'm just glad that we have gym for the next period."

"You really love gym class, don't you?" Tomoyo said with a smile.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "It's the best!"

Since they got into high school, Sakura had found it even more difficult to keep on top of her schoolwork and study. She had planned to go to university after high school and she knew she needed to study harder. Right now, she had Eriol and Yukito as her tutors. Her Dad had recently got promoted and wasn't at home as often, so Yukito had taken over from him, seeing that he was training to be a teacher.

_"_ _You're helping me as much as I'm helping you, Sakura." Yukito had said. "I get to practice what I've learned in class with you."_

However, Sakura was also aware that she was not an easy student to teach. She got easily frustrated in certain subjects. Fujitaka had already been a teacher for years, so he had a lot of experience dealing with all sorts of students. Eriol, or rather Clow, had had many students throughout his life and on top of that, Eriol had been her mentor for a few years, so he too, knew the best way to teach her. But poor Yukito was still in training and sometimes, he didn't know what to do.

"I think we should just take a short break, Sakura." Yukito said. He'd been spending the past twenty minutes or so trying to explain a concept to her, and she just couldn't get it. In the end, they both got frustrated.

Sakura sighed. "I'm sorry, Yukito. It's just not my day, I guess. Don't worry about it. I'll ask Eriol tomorrow." She tidied up her books and then went upstairs to prepare for school tomorrow.

On top of her tutoring sessions, Sakura also had started to study late into the night when there was a particularly difficult test the next day. As a result, sometimes she would feel tired and sleepy in school.

Tomoyo was taking a walk at the back of the school when she came across Sakura and Eriol. They were sitting underneath the big sakura tree, slightly hidden from view. Upon seeing them, Tomoyo had stopped in her tracks. Sakura was taking a nap, her head resting on Eriol's shoulder and he was reading. Eriol looked up, saw Tomoyo, and placed his finger on his lips as a signal for her to be quiet. Tomoyo simply turned around and left them alone. For the past few months, Tomoyo had seen that Eriol had taken care of Sakura and had made her very happy and that, for her, was the most important thing.

* * *

"Finally!" Sakura told Kero excitedly. "Sumer holiday is here!"

It was the first day of the summer holiday and Sakura was as excited as she had always been for it.

"Yeah, let's hope that this year would be better than last year." Kero said without turning his attention away from the screen.

Sakura nodded. "I very much hope so." She recalled how bad last year's summer holiday had started, with the witch. While in the end it had turned out to be a good thing, with her Gift, The Love card and all, Sakura had almost lost Eriol and she didn't want to go through that again, ever.

"And do your homework early, Sakura!" Kero told her. "This time, I'm _not_ going to help you again!"

"Not even for a couple of slices of chocolate cake, Kero?" Sakura asked her guardian teasingly.

"Not even for that!" Kero said firmly. "Maybe." He added a second later, making Sakura laugh heartily.

Sakura had discovered that, similar to Kero, her boyfriend also had this strange obsession with sweet things. He wasn't kidding when he told her about his, and Kero's, sweet tooth. "You and Eriol would do anything for a slice of chocolate cake." Sakura shook her head.

"Don't blame me. He's the one who made me this way." Kero pointed out. "Are you going out?" Kero asked when he saw Sakura standing in front of the mirror, getting ready to go out.

"Yeah, I'm meeting Eriol. We're going to have lunch and then we're going to the movie." Sakura said. Ten minutes later, she was on her way to the station.


	19. Chapter 19

_Click!_

"Nice one!" Nakuru said happily as she moved her camera away from her face.

"Nakuru!" Sakura protested, but then she moved to look at the picture that Nakuru had just taken. A few months ago, Nakuru had developed a new hobby; photography. She had used her savings to buy herself a digital camera and since then, she had taken a lot of pictures, including of Eriol and Sakura. She had make herself some sort of their self-appointed personal photographer. Eriol had let her explore this new hobby and even encouraged her to learn more about it.

"Oh, you're right. That's nice! You're getting better at this, Nakuru." Sakura agreed happily. In the picture, Sakura was looking at the camera with a surprised expression because Eriol was placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

This year, Nakuru had joined them for the summer festival, in hope of taking a lot of pictures of the festival and of course, of her Master and his girlfriend.

"Thanks. I'll send it to you later." Nakuru told her.

Sakura nodded. As per usual, she was wearing a yukata and Eriol was wearing a short sleeved white shirt with red and white striped tie and black vest and pants.

"Sakura!" Sakura heard Tomoyo's voice and turned to see her walking over.

They greeted her and then started walking. Nakuru busily took pictures of their surroundings as Eriol and Sakura walked side-by-sides, with Tomoyo walking alongside Sakura.

They walked around, tried the foods and drinks, and at the end of the evening, they watched the fireworks.

"I swear, the fireworks are getting better every year!" Sakura told Eriol happily as she looked up at the sky.

"Then next year, it's going to get even better." Eriol said.

Sakura nodded happily as she wrapped her arm around his and leaned on him.

* * *

"Happy New Year, Tomoyo!" Sakura greeted her friend when they saw each other at the temple.

"Happy New Year, Sakura! Happy New Year, Mr. Kinomoto." Tomoyo greeted them.

"Happy New Year, Tomoyo." Fujitaka said with a smile.

"Where's your Mom?" Sakura asked curiously.

"She's on a business trip. So, it's just me this year." Tomoyo explained.

"Why don't you come over for dinner tonight at our house, Tomoyo?" Fujitaka invited her. "It would be nice to celebrate together, don't you think?"

"That's a great idea, Dad!" Sakura said excitedly. "What do you think, Tomoyo?"

"Oh, okay. Thank you very much for the invitation." Tomoyo accepted the invitation.

Sakura clapped her hands together. "That's awesome!"

"That's settled then. Sakura, I'm going home first, okay? Don't forget to remind Eriol about dinner." Fujitaka told her daughter.

Sakura nodded. "He knows. And once he's done here, we'll go straight home to help you, Dad."

"See you later then, girls. Have fun!" Fujitaka waved at them as he walked away.

"Do you have somewhere you have to be, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked her friend.

"No, Sakura. I have no plan for the afternoon. How about you?"

"I'm just waiting for Eriol. He is minding the fortune booth this year. In that case, why don't we wait for him at the café nearby, and then after that, we can go to my house together." Sakura suggested and Tomoyo agreed.

They reached the fortune booth and stood in line behind a group of friends. A few minutes later, it was their turn.

"Hi!" Sakura greeted her boyfriend happily.

"Hello." He smiled at her and handed them the tube. "Here you go."

Sakura and Tomoyo shook the tube and took their numbers.

"I got twelve." Sakura said, holding the fortune stick.

"Mine is number twenty." Tomoyo looked at hers.

"Twelve and twenty. Coming right up." Eriol turned to get the fortune papers.

"Don't try anything funny!" Sakura reminded him, remembering what happened the last time he gave her the fortune paper.

"Wouldn't dream of it…" He told her with a big, innocent smile. He took the papers and handed it to them. Sakura examined hers carefully and decided that he hadn't altered it in any way.

"Dad wanted me to remind you about dinner." Sakura said a while later. Since there was nobody else in line, they decided to stay for a little while to chat.

"I remember." Eriol nodded.

"We're going to the café nearby for lunch. Do you have your lunch with you?" Sakura checked with him.

"I do. I should be done at around four o'clock. I'll find you there." Eriol told her.

With that, Sakura and Tomoyo left to get their lunch.

At 4.15pm, Eriol met them at the café and they walked back to the Kinomoto's house together. He hadn't changed from the traditional Japanese kimono but had put his jacket over it.

"We're here!" Sakura announced as they stepped inside her house. Sakura took a pair of guest slippers from the cabinet for Tomoyo. Eriol took his own pair of slippers and put them on. Like Sakura had her own bunny slippers at his house, he too had a pair of his own slippers here.

They went to the kitchen and Eriol greeted Fujitaka. "Happy New Year, Fujitaka."

"Happy New Year, Eriol." Fujitaka smiled at him. He had started dinner preparations.

"Let me get changed and I'll help you." Eriol told him. Fujitaka nodded.

Meanwhile, Sakura had led Tomoyo to sit on the sofa. Kero was there, playing video game, so Tomoyo greeted him.

Eriol greeted Kero too while he walked past the living room on his way upstairs.

"Here, put this on my desk." Sakura noticed her boyfriend heading upstairs and handed him her bag.

"Okay." He took her bag and went upstairs to get changed.

"Is there anything I can do to help, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh, no. Just sit tight and enjoy yourself, Tomoyo. Don't worry about it. Eriol is going to help Dad. What would you like to drink? Tea? Juice?" Sakura offered.

"Are you sure?" Tomoyo insisted and Sakura nodded. "Alright then. Tea would be nice. It's a little cold outside."

"It is. I'll be right back, okay?" Sakura went to the kitchen and started making tea for herself and Tomoyo.

Tomoyo sat down and just watched Kero playing video game. Ten minutes later, Eriol reappeared at the doorway in shirt, sweater, and jeans and Tomoyo noticed he didn't have his backpack with him anymore. He headed straight to the kitchen and started helping Fujitaka.

Sakura came back with their drinks and some cookies and then sat down on the sofa with Tomoyo. They chatted lightly as Kero played video game.

At 5.30pm, the door opened and Touya and Yukito arrived. "We're here!"

Touya noticed a pair of shoes that he didn't recognize and went to the living room. "Do we have a guest? Oh, it's you, Tomoyo. Happy New Year." Touya greeted her.

"Happy New Year, Touya, Yukito." Tomoyo greeted them politely, which Yukito echoed.

"Yo Eriol, Happy New Year!" Touya greeted the young mage.

"Happy New Year, Touya, Happy New Year, Yukito." Eriol greeted them.

"Happy New Year, Eriol." Yukito said. He definitely wasn't going to 'Yo Eriol' Yue's former Master.

Touya and Yukito disappeared upstairs to get changed from their work uniforms.

Fifteen minutes later, dinner was ready. Everyone gathered around the dinner table.

"Oh, we need another chair." Fujitaka realized that they only had five chairs around the dining table because usually there were only five of them, but Tomoyo was here today. "We should get one from the storeroom…"

Eriol waved his hand and a chair appeared.

"… or you could just do that." Fujitaka finished off.

They started dinner. Sakura was talking to Tomoyo, Eriol was talking to Fujitaka, and Yukito chatted with Touya. Soon enough though, Touya and Kero started arguing and finally, Sakura grabbed him and his food and moved him to her other side because she was trying to have a decent conversation with Tomoyo. Now, Kero was sitting between Sakura and Eriol.

After dinner, Toya and Yukito cleaned up because Fujitaka and Eriol had cooked and Sakura had a guest with her. Sakura and Tomoyo settled on the sofa, while Fujitaka and Eriol disappeared into Fujitaka's study.

"Is it okay that Hiiragizawa is talking to your Dad instead of you?" Tomoyo wasn't sure if Sakura had wanted to hang out with him and she was intruding.

"That's fine." Sakura assured her. "They hang out all the time. Half of the time he's here, he's hanging out with my Dad."

"Oh." Tomoyo looked surprised.

"They both like similar topics. Don't worry about it." Sakura told her. Then they chatted for a while before Tomoyo left.

"Bye, Tomoyo!" Sakura waved at her friend at the door as Tomoyo was driven away.

Sakura went back inside and went upstairs to get changed.

* * *

"Second year, here we go!" Sakura said as she and Eriol arrived at school on their first day back after spring holiday. They had spent their 16th birthdays hanging out and they even sparred on his birthday before going out to eat.

"Two more years to go, Saku." Eriol told her with a smile.

Sakura nodded excitedly. "I still don't know which university I want to apply to, or which course. Maybe I should start thinking about that soon. How about you?"

"See which university you want to go to, then I'll choose my course." He told her.

"It's going to be harder this year though." Sakura frowned.

"I know you can do it." Eriol encouraged her. "You've been doing well. Just keep up the good work, okay?"

Sakura smiled happily at him. He had been very supportive of her and had done his best to help her and Sakura loved him for that.

They went inside and greeted their friends.

Despite what Eriol said, Sakura still struggled with her study, but she was determined to work hard. However, sometimes, she just felt defeated and the test this morning was especially hard for her.

"I don't know, Eriol." Sakura had told him during lunch. "I didn't even know what's wrong. It was like I blanked out when I saw the questions." Sakura looked so sad and dejected. Eriol just pulled her into his arms.

"You're going to be okay, Saku. We'll review more about that topic, okay?" He stroked her hair comfortingly. Sakura nodded against his school blazers.

* * *

"No." Eriol said firmly over the phone.

"Eriol, you know I wouldn't have asked for your help if I could find another way." John Cavendish said. "The council needs help, desperately, and you're the only one who can help."

"I'm not going to get involved in the council, John. I was never interested before, I'm still not interested now. How about the others?" Eriol asked. John was a good friend of Eriol's adoptive father. When Eriol was six, John had accidentally discovered who Eriol was, but he had kept that secret to himself, which Eriol and his parents appreciated and that was why they had wanted him to be his legal guardian. When his adoptive parents died when he was only seven years old, Eriol would've been moved into a foster care if he didn't have any legal guardian. Legally, John was still going to be his legal guardian until Eriol turned eighteen.

"They're part of the problem. We've gotten complacent over the years. I'm only one High Priest and I can only do so much. Dracon is useless and the other two are not sure what to do. I need you to step in." John told him.

"What exactly are you asking me to do?" Eriol asked.

"Take up a position as a High Priest." John told him.

"Absolutely not." Eriol refused. "It's full of politics and you know I don't care for it. Besides, what would the others say if a sixteen year old become a High Priest? How are you going to explain it to them?"

"We don't have to explain anything. You can get the job done and that's all they need to know. Since when you care about what they say anyway?" John asked.

"I don't. But I care about the questions that they're going to ask and being a High Priest is not exactly low profile." Eriol wasn't about to let anyone know about who he was and being a High Priest would attract a lot of attention to himself.

"Okay, how about this, I'll send you some documents, take a look at them and then you can decide for yourself." John tried to bargain. The council was on its last leg and John had tried everything to try to make things better, but he needed help.

"Fine." Eriol finally conceded. He had to admit that if John had asked for his help, then the situation must've been bad. "I'll take a look at them and we'll go from there."

Three days later, Eriol agreed to go back to England during summer holiday.

* * *

"For how long?" Sakura asked, surprised when Eriol told her that he needed to go to England during summer holiday.

"All six weeks." He said. Based on the documents that John had sent him, it was very clear that the council was in shambles and sooner or later, it would've impacted the magical community in general. If the council failed, there would be chaos. As much as Eriol disliked politics, he had to acknowledge that the council was necessary.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, Saku. There's no other way." Eriol apologized. "I have some urgent matters that really need my attention.

Sakura nodded. "Okay." What else could she say?

Eriol looked at her. "It's only for six weeks. I'll be back before you know it."

Sakura nodded. "I take it you're leaving as soon as the holiday starts?" Which would be next week.

"Yes, on Sunday afternoon. I've made the arrangements." He noticed her sad expression. "We can still talk on the phone. I'll call you everyday."

Sakura nodded again, but that hadn't made her feel better. Six weeks was a long time, especially if she didn't have school to distract her.

"How about we go on a date on Saturday, hm? Full day, we'll get ice cream, go to the mall, or the amusement park." He tried to cheer her up.

Sakura gave him a small smile. "Okay."

* * *

"Call me when you get there, okay?" Sakura told him. They were at the airport. Nakuru was standing nearby and Spinel was in his backpack. Sakura had insisted on sending him off and Tomoyo had volunteered to accompany her so that she wouldn't have to take the train back alone.

"I will." Eriol nodded. "Enjoy your holiday. Don't forget to do your homework."

His flight number got called and Sakura hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too." He wrapped his arms around her. "I'll see you in six weeks."

Eriol and Nakuru made their way to the gate and Sakura and Tomoyo waved at them.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo turned to her friend.

"I'm okay, Tomoyo." Sakura said with a smile. "He'll be back in six weeks."

Tomoyo nodded.

* * *

"Eriol Hiiragizawa?" One of the High Priestesses, Marie Richardson, said in surprise. "As in... your ward?"

"Yes." John confirmed. "As in my ward."

"But he's like, what? Eighteen? Nineteen?" Another, Helen Bradford, asked.

"He's sixteen actually." John said helpfully. He knew there would be resistance from the others, but he didn't care.

"You want a _child_ to sit among us? Are you out of your mind? And here I thought you're actually trying to do something!" Frederic Dracon exclaimed in disbelief. "This is a joke!"

"There's no need to be so dramatic, Dracon." John kept his voice calm. "Just give him a chance. Six weeks, that's all I ask. If he can't deliver, then I'll drop this altogether. What have we got to lose anyway?"

The rest looked at each other.

"I know he's gifted, Cavendish. But he's sixteen." Bradford tried again. As hard as she tried, she couldn't understand why John resorted to asking a teenager for help. This was the council, not some video games.

"Like I said, just give him a chance." John insisted.

"Fine, Let's see what he's got." Richardson finally agreed. They were at their wits' end. Anything would be better than nothing, even if it was in the form of a sixteen year old boy, as ridiculous as it sounded.

"Excellent. He will be here on Monday." John nodded.

John met Eriol on Monday morning outside of the council building.

"Look at you! You've grown a lot!" John greeted his ward. The last time he saw Eriol, he was ten years old, a child. But now he was as tall as John was.

"It's been six years, John." Eriol smiled. "Have you prepared them?"

"Yes, of course. They're resistant to the idea but didn't reject it completely." John led Eriol into the building and to the elevator. A few people nodded to greet him, and he greeted them back.

"Nice place." Eriol commented.

"It does look nice, doesn't it?" John swiped his access card and pressed the number seven as they got into the elevator.

"Wait for me in my office. I'll come and get you soon." He told Eriol as he led the younger man to his office. He then left to make sure that the rest were ready. Once they were, he went back to his office to get Eriol.

The three other members of the council really weren't sure what to expect. While the two High Priestesses just looked unsure, Dracon wanted to look intimidating. He wasn't going to let some teenager, some kid, to sit among them in this room. This room was reserved for great people, like he was, not some blundering idiot of a kid.

They all looked towards the door when it opened. John walked in, followed by a blue haired boy. The boy was dressed in suit and tie and he walked behind John with confidence. He didn't show any hesitation, nor uneasiness from being in their presence. John led him to the empty chair and introduced him to them.

"This is Eriol Hiiragizawa." He started before he pointed at the different members of the council, introducing them to Eriol.

"Pleasure to meet you all. Now, let's get to work." Eriol said and took a seat. He only had six weeks here and he wasn't going to waste any second with pleasantries.

John watched in satisfaction when he saw how quickly Eriol had taken control of the room. John could see the uncertainty and how Dracon had tried to look intimidating, but that wouldn't have worked on Eriol, of course. He was Clow Reed and he knew exactly who he was and what he could do. John doubted that anything, or anyone, could intimidate Eriol Hiiragizawa.

* * *

"This is the worst summer holiday, ever!" Sakura said miserably. It had been three weeks since Eriol left for England and she had been missing him. He called her almost everyday, but she still missed him. She realized that she had been spending her last few summer holidays with him, she didn't know what to do with herself now that he wasn't here. The summer festival was coming up this weekend, but for the first time, Sakura didn't feel like going.

"Cheer up, Sakura!" Kero tried to cheer her up. "Three more weeks and Eriol will be back."

"I know, but I'm so bored." Sakura said. "We usually hang out or go to get ice cream."

"You can do your homework." Kero pointed out.

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, you're right." She got up from her bed and went to her desk.

That weekend, Sakura dragged herself to go to the summer festival with Tomoyo, hoping that it would distract her. But it only made her miss him more.

The rest of the summer holiday went slowly for her and for once, she looked forward to the beginning of the Fall term.

* * *

"Eriol!" Sakura practically ran to him when she saw him waiting for her at the intersection. Once she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I missed you."

"Hello, Saku." Eriol hugged her back. "I missed you too." He just came back last night.

They hugged for a few seconds before they had to start walking if they didn't want to be late for school.

"How's England?" Sakura asked as they walked to school.

"It's okay." Eriol said. "Some things have changed, but it's bound to happen."

"Have you finished what you needed to do?" Sakura asked him.

"Yes, things are getting better." Eriol replied. He had to do some remote work, but he would manage, for now. He would do anything to stay here, but he knew that there was a real possibility that he would have to go back to England to take up the position. After their initial doubts, the others had seen that he could help them and had been quite cooperative, except for Dracon. But Eriol couldn't care less about him and what he thought. He was there to do a job and he would get it done. For the past six weeks, he had been working as an acting High Priest and did what he could. Things were getting better, but not enough. However, for now, he didn't see the need to go back and he wouldn't want to upset Sakura unnecessarily.

"That's good, right?" Sakura gave him a smile, relieved that he wouldn't have to go back again.

Eriol nodded. "It is." He hadn't told Sakura about the council yet, so she had no clue as to what kind of business he had to deal with. For now, he wouldn't say anything to her, and he would see how the situation would evolve in the near future. "I brought you something from England. Come by my house after school." He told her and Sakura smiled at him widely.

* * *

Eriol was sitting by himself at the café, waiting for his appointment. Five minutes later, he saw Fujitaka entering the café and Eriol stood up.

"Thank you for meeting me." Eriol said after they greeted each other.

"No problem, Eriol. What do you want to talk to me about?" Fujitaka asked as they sat down.

"You know I went back to England during summer holiday to take care of some business." Eriol started and then he told Fujitaka some general information about the council and how it influenced the magic world.

"I see. But I'm sure you didn't call me here just to tell me about the council." Fujitaka said.

"I didn't. But it's important that you know the significance of the council in the magic world. Right now, they're in shambles and if there's no council, if it failed, there would be chaos that would spill to the non-magic world too." Eriol explained.

Fujitaka nodded. "I understand."

"I have to go back to England, Fujitaka. They need my help and as much as I dislike politics, I have to help them." Eriol said.

Fujitaka nodded again.

"I asked you to meet me here because I want to ask for your permission to ask Sakura to marry me." Eriol finally said. "I know she plans to go to university and that's okay. I will wait for her until she's ready. But I want to give my promise to her, and to you, first before I leave."

Fujitaka frowned slightly. "Does she know that you're leaving?"

"Not yet. I just made the decision earlier this week. Sakura has been busy with school and I don't want to burden her with this now, not until after the exams."

"I see. When are you planning to ask her then?" Fujitalka asked.

"After the term ends, just before Christmas. I'm leaving in January." Eriol told him.

"And how long are you willing to wait for her?" Fujitaka wanted to know. Things wouldn't be easy for these two and he wanted to know how committed Eriol was.

"For as long as it takes. I will wait for her until she's ready. This situation with the council won't be permanent. It would take a few years, but once I can let it go, I will. In the meantime, she can go to university, build her career, do whatever she wants to do. Once the situation with the council is settled, I will come back here to marry her if that's what she wants." Eriol said firmly.

"Ask her and see what she says. As for me, you have my full blessings." Fujitaka said easily. He had had his answer even before Eriol asked the question, but he had wanted to see Eriol's commitment.

"Thank you." Eriol thanked him sincerely.


	20. Chapter 20

Sakura arrived at Eriol's house and let herself in. He told her yesterday that he had something important that he wanted to discuss with her and had asked her to come over, so she did.

"Eriol?" Sakura called for her boyfriend as she walked around the house.

"Master is in the dining room, Sakura. He's been waiting for you." Spinel appeared from around the corner and told her.

"Alright. Thanks, Spinel." Sakura thanked the guardian and then went to the dining room. Once she reached the dining room, she was a little surprised to see that he had prepared some food.

"Are we eating lunch here?" Sakura asked him. Since they usually ate meals in the kitchen, Sakura was surprised to see the spread.

"Yes. Take a seat, Saku." Eriol held the chair out for her. Sakura sat down and he pushed the chair forward.

They ate and after desserts, Eriol turned serious. "Sakura, there's something that I need to tell you, something very important."

Sakura looked at him questioningly. "What is it?" She noted his serious expression and became worried.

"In England, there's something called the council of magic. It's the governing body for the magic world and while there are affiliates all around the world, the headquarter is located in London. For centuries, the council has been working to keep the balance in the magic world, as well as the balance with the non-magic world. Without the council, there will be chaos and that chaos could also spill into the non-magic world. For example, the council is responsible to make sure that magic will not be used for personal gain." Eriol took out a piece of money from his pocket and handed it to Sakura. "Look at it closely and tell me what you think of this."

Sakura, albeit very confused, took the money from him and examined it. It took her a second, but then she saw it. "It's an illusion!" Eriol had taught her how to recognize an illusion, although she still had some difficulties with it.

Eriol nodded. "Yes, it is. It's not real money. It's not even a counterfeit money. It's a simple illusion and it's an easy enough illusion to pull off. A magician could go to a store, pay with this and nobody would know, until it's too late. By the time the 'money' turns back into a piece of paper," Eriol snapped his fingers and the 'money' in Sakura's hand turned into a blank paper. "The magician would be gone, and they would've gotten away with using that as a form of payment." Eriol pointed at the paper.

"That's… That's against the law." Sakura said, frowning.

"It is, but the non-magic law cannot process it. That's where the council comes in. They are the ones who make the laws to prevent something like this from happening. Some crimes are more severe than others and it's the council's job to make sure that those who committed the crimes are being held responsible. Besides that, the council is also responsible for a lot of other things, such as keeping the peace, connecting the different magicians and affiliates around the world, et cetera."

Sakura put the piece of paper on the table and looked at him. "Okay, but why are you telling me this?"

"I want you to understand how important the council is in our world. Are you with me so far?" Eriol asked her to make sure that she understood.

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

"During summer holiday, I told you that I had some urgent matters to take care of in England, but I didn't tell you what it was. It had something to do with the council. Now, I want you to know that I don't care for the council. I never did. Clow was asked to join the council on multiple occasions, but he refused. However, my contact in the council reached out to me and asked for my help because right now, the council is collapsing. It's filled with corruption, politics, and general chaos that they needed my help. So, I had to leave during the holiday to help them." Eriol paused. "As it turns out, the problem is so much bigger than I initially thought." Eriol took a deep breath. "Saku, I have to go back to England to help them get things under control."

Sakura stared at him. "For how long?" She asked. Those six weeks had been bad enough and now he had to go there again.

"They want me to work in the council permanently, at least until they can get things under control." Eriol told her.

"Permanently?" Sakura was in shock.

Eriol nodded. "I know things are not going to be easy going forward. The distance and the time difference alone are going to be a challenge. That's why I want to talk to you about where this, us, is going." Eriol paused briefly. "Sakura, I…" But before he could say anything else, Sakura got to her feet and left.

Sakura couldn't listen to this anymore. She didn't want to hear him say the words, she didn't want to hear him say that he was breaking up with her. If she didn't hear it, then she could pretend that this never happened, that he was not going away to London, that he was not breaking up with her. Sakura ran to the front door, but her vision started blurring, and her heart was beating painfully in her chest. She had to stop to take some deep breaths, otherwise she might pass out. As she stopped, Sakura could feel tears starting to flow down her cheeks.

For his part, Eriol was shocked. For a few seconds, he just sat there staring at her now-empty chair, but he quickly got over his shock and send a silent command to the house to lock the front door, knowing that she would try to get out. He didn't understand why she left. He hadn't even asked her yet!

"Saku." Sakura heard him calling her, turned, and saw him. She quickly made her way to the front door, trying to get away from him.

Eriol calmly walked to follow her.

Sakura opened the door, but it would budge. Sakura turned and saw him walking towards her. "Open the door!" She demanded.

"Saku, listen…" Eriol stopped a few feet away from her.

"No! I'm not going to listen to you! Open the door! Why are you doing this to me?! You invited me here, we had a nice meal, and then you told me you have to go away, and now you're going to break up with me!" Sakura wiped her tears angrily.

Eriol was surprised at her words. "What? Sakura, no…" He tried to explain, but she wouldn't let him.

"Those times that you told me you love me, the promises that we made… How could you do this to me?! After everything that we've been through together! How could you…" Sakura stopped talking when he got down to one knee in front of her. "What, what are you doing?" She asked, her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth in shock.

"Are you done? Can I have my turn?" Eriol asked her calmly. Sakura was so dumbfounded that she just nodded. Eriol took out a small velvet box from his pocket and presented it to her. "Sakura, I have loved you even before I met you, and I will always love you for the rest of my life and even after. You are my light, my star, my everything." He paused briefly and opened the box to reveal the ring inside. "Sakura, will you marry me?"

Sakura stood there in shock. Her eyes moved from his face, to the ring, and back to his face. "I…" She started. "Yes." She whispered, but then her confidence grew as she realized this was real. "Yes." She said again, louder, and more firmly, a different kind of tears streaming down her face.

Eriol sighed in relief. He reached for her left hand, which she willingly gave, and slid the ring on her ring finger before bringing it to his lips. He then got up to his feet, still holding her hand, and took a step closer to her. "I love you."

Sakura was crying and smiling at the same time. "I love you too."

Eriol held her face in his hand and kissed her.

* * *

Sakura sat on the sofa with him, looking at the ring.

"Do you like it?" Eriol asked. He had a big smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"It's very beautiful." Sakura admired the ring. It was simple, yet elegant. Low profile, but beautiful. The band was made of a simple white gold, with a round-cut diamond that reflected a blue-ish tone under the lights. It wasn't flashy, but Sakura loved it. It suited her taste, which only showed how much he knew her.

"Not as beautiful as the wearer." He said and kissed her cheek.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sakura turned to him.

"That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" Eriol smirked.

Sakura was silent as she remembered his other, less pleasant, 'surprise'. "You're going away…" She said quietly.

Eriol sighed. "I've thought about this for weeks, but I don't see any other way. I don't want to leave you, you know that, right?" He asked and she nodded. "I'm sorry, Saku. I know that I told you I would go wherever you go, but I saw a vision of what would happen if I don't do this and it's not a future that I want for us, for everyone. That's why I made the decision to go."

"What did you see?" Sakura frowned slightly.

"It's an absolute chaos. Without the council, there's no law for magic. At first, it's us, the magicians, who have the upper hand. After all, we have magic and they don't. But they fight back. Hunt us down. I will protect you at all costs, but not even I can protect everyone." Eriol had seen the absolute hell that the world would become if the council fell apart.

"Then you must go." Sakura told him firmly. "I'll be okay, we'll be okay. You must go."

Eriol nodded. "I must. But I can't just leave you." He took her left hand and held it gently. "This is my promise to you, Sakura. My commitment to you. I know you want to go to university, and I will wait for you. Who knows, by the time you're done with university, things would have gotten better in the council. I'm not going to stay there forever, Saku. I will only stay for as long as it takes to get everything back under control. Then I'll leave and we'll go see the world, just like what we talked about."

Sakura snuggled up to him and he held her tight. "You do what you have to do, and I will wait for you too. Once we're both ready, then we'll get married and we'll go around the world."

"We just have to be patient for now." Eriol told her.

"What are you going to do there? I mean, what is your job?" Sakura asked curiously.

"The council itself is led by a group of people called the High Priest and High Priestess. They are the highest-ranking members, the leaders of the council. I will be one of the High Priests." Eriol replied.

"Do they know who you are?" A High Priest seemed like a very important position. They wouldn't just give him that position if they didn't know who he was, if they thought that he was just an ordinary sixteen years old.

"One of them does. He's the one who contacted me. His name is John Cavendish. He's my legal guardian." Eriol said.

"Legal guardian?" Sakura asked, surprised that he actually had one.

"John knows who I am. He found out by accident, but he never tells anyone, and my parents and I are grateful for that. So they made him my legal guardian, in case something happened to them. Then it did. They died when I was seven. Without a legal guardian, a seven year old me would have been thrown into the foster care system. Lucky for me, I have John. Technically he's still going to be my legal guardian until I turn eighteen. John is a High Priest in the council, so he reached out to me a few months ago."

"Are you… close to him?" Sakura asked curiously because she had never heard of him before.

"Not quite. We keep in touch throughout the years. He knows I don't really need any legal guardian, just on papers. So he mostly leaves me to my own devices and never really bothered me. He checks on me every now and then, but that's about it." Eriol told her.

Sakura nodded. "When are you leaving?"

"Early January. The sooner, the better." Eriol informed her.

"Are we going to be able to see each other or is it going to be like no contact for the next few years?" Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to go through that.

"Of course we can talk to each other." Eriol chuckled. "I might not be able to call you everyday, especially with time difference and all that. But we can still talk a few times a week and I will come back and visit you as often as I can."

Sakura looked sad. "It's not going to be easy, is it?"

"No, it's not. But we'll be okay." Eriol kissed her hair softly.

"We have to tell my Dad and Touya…" Sakura looked her ring again. "And the guardians. I take it yours already know?"

"They do. And your Dad too." Eriol confirmed.

Sakura looked surprised as she sat up straighter. "My Dad knows?"

"Of course. You didn't really think I would ask you without asking for his permission first, did you?" Eriol asked her. "And he gave me his blessings."

Sakura's eyes widened. "When?"

"A few weeks ago, actually. By then, I already knew that I have to go. So I asked to meet him and asked for your hand in marriage. Once I've got his blessing, I went to get the ring. I waited until exams are over because I want you to focus on that." He paused, a smile slowly spread across his face. "I had planned for today, you know. We were going to have nice meal and then I would explain to you about the council and why I have to go, then I was going to ask you to marry me. It was perfect. But you," He smiled at her adoringly, "You ran off even before I popped the question and you made me chase you and propose to you at the front door."

Sakura blushed. "I thought you were going to break up with me." She said quietly.

Eriol sighed. "If I were going to do that, why would I even bother to explain to you about the council?"

Sakura shrugged. "You said that you're going away and then you wanted to talk about where this is going, so I thought you were breaking up with me."

"I supposed I could've worded it better." He mused. "I was nervous about asking you. What if you said no and wanted to break up with me instead. After all, I'm asking quite a lot from you, to be in a long-distance relationship for indefinite time."

"Doesn't matter now. You asked, I said yes. We're engaged." Sakura said and then paused. "We're engaged." She repeated with a big smile on her face.

He chuckled. "We're engaged." He confirmed happily.

"Let's tell Touya and my guardians tonight." Sakura said. "I want them to know as soon as possible."

"Is there any chance of me not be in the room? It's not just your brother I'm worried about." Eriol asked her, but he had a smile on his face.

"No chance, mister. We're going to do this together." Sakura said firmly. "Don't worry. I'll protect you from the big bad Touya." She continued with a smirk.

Eriol laughed at that. If Touya was going to punch him, he wouldn't actually care.

* * *

"ENGAGED?!" As expected, Touya was being as dramatic as ever. They were sitting around the dining table. After they finished dinner, Sakura took out her ring from her pocket, put it on her finger, took Eriol's hand in hers, and told her brother and her guardians (It was Yukito, but Yue would know too) about their new relationship status.

Sakura sighed. "You're overreacting, Touya. Again. Yes, we're engaged. What, did you think that we're just going to be dating forever?"

"But you're sixteen!" Touya protested loudly.

"So? There's no age limit as to when one can get engaged." Sakura retorted back. "Mom got married at sixteen. I don't hear you complaining about that."

Touya turned to his Dad. "I take it you already know? Again?"

Fujitaka smiled. "Eriol asked for my permission a few weeks ago." Then he turned to the couple. "Congratulations."

They both thanked him.

"Why the rush?" Touya suddenly asked suspiciously.

"I'm leaving. I'm going back to England." Eriol told Touya.

"You're… leaving? You're leaving, but you asked her to marry you?" Touya narrowed his eyes at Eriol.

Eriol nodded. "I want Sakura, and all of you, to know that I'm committed to her and that one day, when we're both ready, I'm going to marry her. But for now, this will do."

"Why are you leaving in the first place?" Yukito asked.

"Business. There's a magic council in England and they need my help." Eriol said.

"A magic council?" Touya asked confusedly. "There's such thing?"

"Yes." Eriol didn't see the need to go into details. Those who needed to know already knew.

"Since when do you care about the council?" Kero asked, speaking for the first time since they'd announced their engagement.

"Since now. They're collapsing and as you can imagine, the consequences would be dire if they fall apart. I have no choice, Kero." Eriol said to the guardian.

Kero looked thoughtful. "Is there anything that we need to worry about over here?" If the council was collapsing, it would have impact almost everywhere.

"No. I will let you know if there was. So far, it's mostly internal. That's why I have to go there and get things under control before it gets worse." Eriol told him.

Kero just nodded. "When are you leaving then?"

"As soon as possible. My plan is early January." Eriol told them. "I will keep you informed in regards of the council, but so far I don't see any immediate problem."

A couple of days later, Sakura and Eriol were sitting together in his living room.

"In fifth grade, you said you were a little jealous because I made a bear for Yukito. Did you mean it?" Sakura asked, knowing that he had loved her back then too.

"I did. But I lied. I told you I was a little jealous of Yukito. I wasn't. I was more than just 'a little jealous'. I knew I shouldn't let my feelings get in the way. I had my duty after all. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't help myself. So, I kissed your hand." Eriol admitted.

Sakura remembered that too. That was the first time someone had ever kissed her. As it turned out, he was the only one who had and would ever kiss her.

"Well, I didn't get to give the bear to him because _somebody_ put a spell on it." Sakura said with a smile. "But, since you were jealous…" Sakura moved to open her bag and took out a bear. "Here, this is your own bear."

Eriol looked at the bear. It was a different bear. It was light grey and the ears were a little lopsided.

"As you can see, I'm out of practice." Sakura told him. "But take it back with you to England, okay?"

Eriol took the bear from her hand. "I will treasure it. Thank you."

Sakura smiled at him widely.

* * *

For the next couple of weeks, Sakura and Eriol spent everyday together. When it was time for him to leave, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero sent him off at the airport.

"Be careful, okay? Work hard, but don't forget to eat and rest." Sakura told him. Nakuru and Tomoyo stood a little far away to give the couple a privacy.

"Don't worry. I'm going to be fine." Eriol assured her with a soft smile. "May I kiss you?" He asked because they were in a public place and he didn't want to make her feel uneasy.

Sakura nodded. She was aware that Tomoyo and Nakuru were standing nearby and there were many people around them, but at this moment, she couldn't care less.

Eriol cupped her face in his hands and captured her lips with his own, kissing her deeply. After a few seconds, they pulled apart and he rested his forehead lightly on hers. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sakura told him and then hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you so much." She said tearfully. She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't stop her tears from falling.

"I'm going to miss you too." Eriol whispered into her hair.

They heard the call for his flight and Sakura let him go. She stood with Tomoyo and waved at them, tears streaming down her face.

"Sakura, it's okay." Tomoyo tried to comfort her friend, but even she didn't sound too convinced. She pulled her friend into a hug as Sakura sniffled and cried softly.

* * *

A few weeks passed and Sakura had gotten into a new routine. They tried to call each other as often as they could, but she had school and he had work and the time difference made it even more difficult than it already was. It took them a while to figure out the best time to call and even then, they couldn't speak everyday. Eriol was very busy and Sakura didn't want to distract him. She understood how important it was for him to do this this, and she fully supported his decision, but it didn't make it any easier for her.

When Tomoyo found her, Sakura was sitting by herself on the bench at the back of the school with a faraway look of her face. "Sakura?"

Sakura seemed startled, but when she noticed Tomoyo, she smiled softly. "Hi Tomoyo, what is it?"

"Nothing." Tomoyo sat down beside her. "Just wondering where you are. Are you okay?" She asked gently. Today was Valentine's Day and understandably, Sakura had been sad since morning.

Sakura nodded, but her smile had disappeared. "I ruined the first chocolate that I made him, you know." Her hand unconsciously went to her chest, where her ring was hanging underneath her shirt, together with her key. Sakura had gotten herself a necklace and wore her engagement ring around her neck because the school didn't allow students to wear visible jewelry, except for small earrings for girls. "It was cracked and it was the ugliest looking chocolate that you can imagine giving to someone on Valentine's Day. But he ate the whole thing for lunch instead of his bento." Sakura reminisced. "I miss him so much, Tomoyo. I know it's only been a few weeks and we talk on the phone, but we've never been separated like this before. At least, during summer holiday, I knew he was going to be back in six weeks' time. But now, I don't even know when I'm going to see him again." Sakura said sadly.

Tomoyo knew that whatever she said, it wasn't going to make her friend feel better, so she just sat there with her in silence.

* * *

"What time is it?" Sakura checked her 'London' clock. She had bought a small clock and had set the time to London's time. "Aren't you in the office? Why are you talking to me instead of working?" Sakura had just got back from school when he called. It was around 10am in London and Sakura knew his work usually started at 9.30am.

"I'm not in the office yet." Eriol said. He was actually getting ready to leave. Being a High Priest had its perks, one of them was having more flexible office hours. But he usually stuck to 9.30am. However, today he had wanted to wait until she got home from school to call her before going to work. "Seeing that today is Valentine's Day, I wanted to talk to you first before leaving. Happy Valentine's Day, Saku."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Eriol." Sakura said with a smile, even though he couldn't see it. "What are you going to do today?"

"Working, what else? Seeing that my fiancé is all the way across the ocean, there's nothing special for me today." Eriol smiled widely. "Why? Do _you_ have a date?" He asked in mock horror.

Sakura laughed. She loved it when he called her his fiancé. "Yeah, a 'date', with my books. We have a test tomorrow, so I'll be studying."

Ever since Eriol left, Sakura relied more on Yukito or her Dad to help her with school. But she did most of the work herself. Eriol sometimes helped her through the phone too, but it was quite difficult to tutor her by phone, without actually seeing what was written. Besides, Sakura would prefer to use their phone call time to chat rather than talking about schoolwork.

Eriol chuckled, then his work phone rang. He could see John's name on the display. "I have to go, dear. Study well, okay?"

"Okay. Have a good day at work." Sakura said and then they hung up.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Sakura rushed to the door and opened it to find a delivery guy holding a bouquet of red roses. "Delivery for Sakura Kinomoto."

Sakura's eyes widened. ' _He didn't!_ ' She thought. "Thank you." Sakura thanked the delivery guy and brought the flowers inside. She went to sit down in the living room, still holding the bouquet in her hands. It had a dozen of red roses, just like what he had been giving her for the past two Valentine's Days.

"From Eriol?" Kero commented.

"Looks like it." Sakura said and saw a white envelope. She took out the card inside.

' _Missing you with all my heart. Wishing I could be there to see your beautiful smile. Happy Valentine's Day. E._ ' The card read.

Sakura smiled and ran her fingers gently on the rose petals.


	21. Chapter 21

"Tomoyo! Did you get Syaoran and Meiling's wedding invitation?" Sakura asked her friend excitedly.

"I did, Sakura." Tomoyo confirmed. "I'd love to go, but it's just before our finals."

Sakura nodded in disappointment. "I know. I'd love to go too. But I can't go to Hong Kong two days before finals."

"Have you told them?" Tomoyo asked.

"Not yet, but I will soon." Sakura told her, but then she smiled. "I'm so happy for them though. Syaoran never mentioned that he and Meiling were getting back together, but I'm glad that they did."

"We kind of lost contact with them after a while, didn't we?" Tomoyo said. After Syaoran went back to Hong Kong, they all got busy with life and they had lost contact with him after a while. That was why they were surprised to have received the wedding invitation a couple of days ago.

"We did. We should've made more efforts to stay in touch with him and Meiling. But life got in the way, I guess." Sakura agreed. "He must be busy with his training and we got busy with life here too."

"You're right. That's really too bad." Tomoyo nodded. "You'd think that since we have emails and everything, it would be easier to stay in touch with other people."

"Believe me, it's not." Sakura told her. "Eriol and I talk on the phone a few times a week, but even we find it difficult to stay on top of things sometimes."

"How's he doing?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura only told her that Eriol had to move back to England to work, but Tomoyo didn't know what his job was or where he worked.

"He's doing well. Just very busy. We talked about him visiting during spring holiday, but I don't think that's going to happen." Sakura informed Tomoyo. "We've agreed that if he were to visit, then it's better for him to visit during school holiday. That way, he wouldn't just sit around, waiting for me to get home from school. But if he can't make it this spring, we'd have to wait until summer holiday in July."

"That's still a few months away." Tomoyo commented.

"I know. I've been quite busy with school myself, but July seems like a long way to go." Sakura said sadly. "But there's nothing that we can do."

"I'm sorry, Sakura. That must be difficult for you." Tomoyo said sympathetically.

"We'll manage. We have to." Sakura put on a brave smile.

* * *

Eriol and Sakura sent their regrets to Syaoran and Meiling that they couldn't attend the wedding and wished the newlyweds a happy and prosperous life. After Sakura's exams, they had celebrated their 17th birthdays over the phone and then Sakura started the third and final year of high school.

If her grades were bad before, they only got worse this year and she was struggling a lot with school, even from the beginning of the year. The pressure of going to university had really gotten to her.

None of her friends knew about how much she'd been struggling, not even Tomoyo. Everyone was busy preparing for university and Sakura didn't want to burden them with her problems. Besides, everyone seemed to be doing okay and Sakura couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed of herself because she seemed to be the only one who was struggling in class. Thus, she had kept it from her friends.

Yukito, Fujitaka and Eriol tried to help her as much as they could, but Sakura still had to put in extra hours in her studies. As a result, she often studied late into the night.

Touya opened the door to Sakura's room one night, a mug of tea in his hand, as he noticed that her light was still on.

"Again?" Touya sighed as he saw that Sakura had fallen asleep at her desk. He put the mug on the desk and carefully picked up his sister in his arms. Kero flew over to the bed and pulled aside the cover so that Touya could put Sakura down on her bed. After that, Kero tucked his Mistress in.

"Night, Kero." Touya bid the guardian good night as he took the mug and left.

"Night, Touya." Kero replied as he went to Sakura's desk and put her books and papers into her school bag so that she wouldn't have to worry about them in the morning.

A few days later, Kero was by himself at home, playing video game in the living room when the front door burst open and Sakura ran in. Since it was in the middle of the day and Sakura was supposed to be in school, Kero was surprised, but she didn't say anything to him. She just ran upstairs and Kero heard the door slamming shut a few seconds later.

Alarmed, Kero quickly went upstairs to check on her.

"Sakura?" Kero called her name softly as he opened the door.

"I'm okay, Kero." Sakura's voice was muffled by her pillow as she laid face down across her bed. Kero could see her shoulders shaking and knew that she was crying.

"Can you just give me a minute?" Sakura asked him.

Wordlessly, Kero left and went downstairs.

Sakura hugged her pillow and cried. Today had been especially difficult for her. There was a math test in the morning and she knew she hadn't done well for that test. After that, her day just got worse as she couldn't seem to focus on the lessons. She didn't understand a thing that the teacher had said and had gotten herself a massive headache instead. By lunch time, Sakura couldn't take it anymore and had gone to the nurse office to ask for a permission slip to go home.

As she cried, Sakura was surprised by the sound of her phone ringing. Hearing the ringtone, she immediately knew who it was since she had set a special ringtone for him. Sakura quickly scrambled to her feet and grabbed her phone from her bag, and true enough, she saw his name and picture on the display.

"Eriol?" Sakura said softly on the phone.

"Hello, Saku." Sakura heard him say, his voice heavy with sleep. Sakura glanced at her London clock and saw that it wasn't even 6am in London.

"Kero called you, didn't he? He woke you up." Sakura held her phone against her ear and went to lie back down on the bed. Despite that, she was glad to hear his voice.

"He's worried about you." Eriol told her.

"I'm okay." Sakura sniffled slightly. "It's just not my day." She didn't bother to hide the tears in her voice since Kero must've told him.

"Want to talk about what happened?" Eriol asked gently.

"There was a test this morning and I didn't do well. Then I couldn't focus on class and I got a headache. So, I asked for a permission slip to go home." Sakura told him tearfully. "It wasn't even a new lesson, just a review of the previous lesson, but I didn't understand anything. Why am I so stupid?"

"You're a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them, dear." Eriol said.

"You're just saying that." Sakura sniffled.

"I don't lie to you, remember?" Eriol reminded her.

"Sometimes I can't help but feel that way. I mean, look at my Dad. You said it yourself that he's very smart. He's also a great teacher. And Touya too is so smart. He's doing so well in university. Even my Mom…" Sakura said. "I'm the only one in the family who's not smart."

Unbeknownst to her, Touya had come home a few minutes earlier and had been surprised to see her shoes. He went upstairs and was about to knock on her door when he heard her crying softly and talking to someone. He quickly realized that she was on the phone and was talking to Eriol.

"Being smart has different meaning for different people. You _are_ smart, Sakura. I've taught you myself and I know this better than anyone." Eriol told her as he shifted to a more comfortable position in bed. When Kero called him and asked him to call her, he was worried.

"Then why can't I understand anything in class? Everyone else seems to be doing okay, but me. I barely even passed the second year and now I'm not sure if I'm even going to pass this year and graduate, let alone go to university. Oh god, what if I can't even graduate high school?" Sakura asked, suddenly panicking. The thought of being left behind and having to repeat the third year of high school scared her and she burst out crying again.

"Sakura?" Eriol was alarmed by her outburst. She sounded panicky.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Sakura quickly reassured him. She wiped her tears and forced herself to calm down. She knew that she was just panicking over nothing and it wouldn't hep her. "I'm fine, really. It's just one bad day at school."

Eriol was silent for a few seconds. "I hate this." He admitted. "I hate that I'm stuck here, so far away from you when you need me. What kind of fiancé am I? So much for being me."

"We have to do this, you know that. We'll be okay. I miss you so much, but it's already June. We'll see each other next month." Sakura glanced at her calendar. She had marked the start of the summer holiday.

"I miss you too." Eriol said. "I have an idea to help you study. I can use a portal to see what you're studying and then we can talk on the phone. But we can only do it on the weekends because I can't do it in the office." He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before.

"Won't that use a lot of magic?" Sakura frowned.

"No. I've done it many times before. To watch you." Eriol admitted.

"You did what now?!" Sakura was horrified.

"I couldn't help it. I was curious. When you first opened the book, I could feel it and I wanted to see you for myself. Not just in my dreams, not just in my visions." Eriol told her. He didn't do it too often, just when there were significant 'milestones' or a particularly difficult card to capture. He had wanted to see how she was doing with the cards and what he saw had pleased him.

"And how many times have you not been able to 'help it?" Sakura asked slowly.

"More than I care to admit." Eriol said sheepishly, but he was smiling as he said this. He could hear her scolding tone and that was better than her teary one, even if it were at his expense.

Sakura shook her head. "You're unbelievable. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"When it comes to you, my dear, I have no shame." Eriol laughed lightly. "I've stopped doing it after our battle though."

"That is not helping your case here, mister!" Sakura scolded him, but it only made him laugh harder, which in turn, had made her laugh too, much to his relief.

They talked for a while more and by the time they hung up, Sakura felt so much better. This was one of the reasons why she loved him so much. He always knew what to do, how to cheer her up, how to make her happy.

* * *

"You should talk to her." Touya told his Dad the next morning during breakfast after Sakura had left for school.

"About…?" Fujitaka prompted.

"She's struggling a lot in school. Yesterday she came home early and cried." Touya said. "All these late night studying, the tests… She's going to crumble under the pressure. She already thought that she was stupid and wasn't smart enough."

"And she told you all these?" Fujitaka asked, already knowing the answer.

Touya looked away. "No."

"I'm guessing that she told Eriol and you _just_ happened to hear it?" Fujitaka asked again, but there was no trace of anger, just a hint of amusement. Touya cared a lot about his sister, but he wasn't the best when it came to expressing his feelings.

"She was crying. The door _happened_ to be slightly open. But that's not my point." Touya said. "Maybe going to university is not the best idea for her."

"She wants to go, Touya. Telling her not to go would only make her feel worse about herself. All we can do is to support her." Fujitaka told his son.

"If she's already struggling like this, it's just going to get worse in university. You know that." Touya frowned. "It's not that I don't think she can do it, I just…"

"I know. You're just worried about her. I am too." Fujitaka smiled softly. "I've talked to Eriol about this and we both agreed that we should present her with other options."

"Other options?" Touya asked curiously.

"There are training schools or career preparation schools. Or she could just go straight into working. But in the end, it will still be her decision." Fujitaka said. He was worried and was aware of his daughter's struggles, but he knew that she had to make that decision for herself.

Touya was silent. He didn't want to make Sakura feel like she wasn't capable, but he hated to see her to struggling so much. "When are you going to talk to her?"

"When Eriol gets here next month." Fujitaka said. "Don't worry, Touya. I'm sure everything will work out in the end." With that, Fujitaka got up from his seat and started cleaning up since he needed to go to work soon.

* * *

Summer holiday had started and Sakura was understandably excited. Eriol told her that he would be arriving on the third day of her summer holiday and Sakura had circled the date on her calendar and had been counting down to the day that she would see him. Unfortunately, he could only stay for two weeks but Sakura would take whatever she could get.

On the first and second day of her holiday, Sakura cleaned up her room and did whatever chores that she needed to do so that she could spend the next two weeks with him uninterrupted.

Sakura had just finished washing the dishes when the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" Sakura called out as she dried her hands and grabbed the family stamp needed to acknowledge a delivery.

Sakura opened the door and her heart skipped a beat when she saw her fiancé standing there, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand, with a big smile on his face.

For a second or two, Sakura just stared at him in shock, but then she practically threw herself at him. "Eriol!" She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him. "You're here… You're here…" She said as tears started to fall down her face.

Eriol caught her and wrapped his arms around her. "Hello, Saku." He greeted her.

After a few seconds, he lowered her to her feet and Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Eriol closed the door behind him and when he turned to face her, Sakura wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt.

In return, Eriol enveloped her in his arms. "I've missed you so much…" He whispered into her hair. He closed his eyes and just focused on the feeling of having her in his arms.

"I've missed you too… I've missed you so much." Sakura said as she started crying.

They stood like that for a while, just enjoying being in each other's arms again after months of separation.

Eriol let her go and used his thumb to gently wipe her tears before he bent down slightly to kiss her deeply.

Sakura wrapped her own arms around his neck to pull him closer.

After they pulled apart, Sakura looked at him and she couldn't stop the smile form spreading across her face. "You're here! I thought you'd be here tomorrow!"

"I changed my ticket in the last minutes. I didn't want to wait for longer than necessary." Eriol told her.

Sakura pulled him inside and they sat down on the sofa together. They looked at each other, drinking in the sight of each other's faces. Sakura could still 'see' his love for her and she had missed it very much. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could've sworn it was more intense than she remembered it to be. "I love you." Sakura told him, wanting to be first one to say it for once.

He smiled brilliantly. "I love you too. And I have another surprise for you."

"What is it?" Sakura asked curiously. She doubted that anything could be better than having him here with her.

"I've made some arrangements and instead of two weeks, I can stay for a month." He told her happily. The others were not that happy, but he had worked hard in the past seven months that they couldn't say anything. Besides, he was still going to work remotely and he always got his job done, so they couldn't complain.

Sakura was wrong. It did get better. "A month?" She asked in disbelief, but then her smile faltered. "Is that okay though? Will you get in trouble?"

"No, I will not get in trouble. I will have to do some remote work, but I can stay until after the summer festival. We can go together." Eriol assured her.

Her smile was back full force. "I'm so happy!" She hugged him again.

He laughed and hugged her back. "Me too."

For the next couple of hours, they sat there together, chatting and catching up. They were holding each other's hand tightly, as if making up for lost time. At some point, Kero flew downstairs and greeted Eriol.

At dinnertime, Sakura and Eriol prepared dinner together and ate together since Touya was working and Fujitaka was at the dig site until next week.

"I'm home!" Touya announced later that evening. He then noticed a pair of men's sneakers and knew that Eriol was already there. He went into the living room, but only saw Kero on the sofa.

"Where are…?" He asked, but Kero just pointed toward the back door. Through the glass door, he could see Sakura and Eriol sitting together at the steps, talking and laughing. Touya smiled as he noted how happy his sister looked. It had been a while since she was this happy, seven months to be exact. So, Touya left the couple alone and went upstairs to his room.


	22. Chapter 22

For the next two weeks, Sakura and Eriol were inseparable. They hung out everyday, either he showed up at her house in the mornings or vice versa, and they spent the whole day together. They even had the chance to have a spar or two, in which Eriol commented that she was getting slow.

"I have nobody to train with. And things have been very peaceful lately. So, actually, I'm not complaining." Sakura told him and he agreed. Peaceful was good.

"Nakuru is busy with her new job and her boyfriend. She's a full-fledged photographer now, having finished her short course last month." Eriol explained when Sakura asked why Nakuru hadn't come along with him and Spinel.

"Wait… Nakuru has a boyfriend?" Sakura asked in surprise. She knew that Nakuru was a photographer now. They had kept in touch too, although not as often. But Nakuru never mentioned anything about having a boyfriend.

"She does. He's a fellow photographer. They've been dating for four months now." Eriol replied. "Since I'm just going to spend most of my time with you anyway, I don't see why she has to come with me."

"Does he know that she's a guardian?" Sakura asked curiously.

"No, he doesn't even know anything about magic." Eriol said. "They haven't been dating for too long. Nakuru thought it's still too soon to tell him about magic. He's a great guy. We've met a couple of times."

"How did you explain your relationship with Nakuru then?" Sakura asked.

"We're cousins." Eriol grinned.

"Ah, I see… I still can't imagine Nakuru having a boyfriend." Sakura remembered how the guardian was. Excitable, very lively, and could be a little childish too at times. "But I'm happy for her."

"So am I, mainly because she doesn't fight with Spinel as often anymore, so I get to have some peace and quiet at home." Eriol smiled widely.

"Lucky you. Mine still fight almost every time. Kero fights with Yue, with Touya and I'm guessing with Spinel too, given the chance. I'm starting to think that he's the real problem here." Sakura frowned. "The only one he doesn't fight with is Dad, but that's because he loves Dad's pudding more than anything, he wouldn't want to upset him."

"He fought with Clow too, especially when it comes to desserts." Eriol told her laughingly.

Sakura looked resigned. "He really is the problem then."

* * *

Sakura, Eriol and Fujitaka sat around the dining table as they discussed about her study and school and her plan of going to university.

"You think I can't make it to university? You don't believe in me?" Sakura asked bluntly, upset that they didn't believe in her, the two people whom she loved the most.

"It's not that, Sakura." Fujitaka said gently. "We believe in you. You know we do. Of course you can go to university. But we know you've been struggling in school and we just want you to know that there are other options too. University is not the only answer. There are more out there than getting a degree."

Sakura could see on their faces that they were both worried about her, and they were not the only ones. Touya and her guardians had been worried about her too. Sakura had to admit that they were right. She had been struggling and she knew things were just going to get tougher in university. So, she had to put on her big girl shoes and think about this logically.

"But if I don't go to university, what am I going to do?" Sakura asked.

"There are some options. There's vocational school." Fujitaka said. "There's also career oriented training school, which is similar to training school, but it focuses on preparing you for your chosen career path."

"These are just some options, Sakura." Eriol added. "The final decision will still be in your hands. And no matter what you choose, you have our full support."

"I just… I just want you all to be proud of me." She said quietly and honestly.

"Sakura, we are very proud of you. Nothing will ever change that. Whatever you decide, be it university, training school or others, know we are all very proud of you and we will always support you." Fujitaka told her firmly and Eriol nodded.

"I… Can I think about it?" Sakura asked finally. She knew they just wanted the best for her. She had gotten it into her head that going to university was her best and only option after school, but she had to face reality and start looking at other options too.

"Absolutely. You're also going to meet your counselor when school starts, right? Then we can further discuss your options." Fujitaka told her.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, there's a parent-teacher meeting at the start of the term."

"We'll put this matter to rest for now. Once we've talked to your teacher, then we might revisit it again, okay?" Fujitaka asked and Sakura agreed.

* * *

As they got closer to summer festival, Sakura was filled with dread, knowing that she would have to say goodbye to Eriol again afterwards. When the summer festival finally arrived, Sakura didn't feel any excitement at all.

"What's wrong?" Eriol asked as he saw her sad face. "Aren't you excited for the festival?" They were walking towards the festival.

"I…" Sakura looked at him and realized that it would be his last few days here for a while and she didn't want to make him sad too. "I am." She put a smile on her face. "Sorry, I was just thinking about what we talked about the other day." Sakura lied, glad that she had never made _that_ promise.

"Don't worry about it too much. You still have some time to decide." Eriol played along, knowing full well that she was lying.

Sakura nodded, relieved that he didn't suspect a thing. If these were their last days together for a while, she was going to make him as happy as she could.

They met up with Tomoyo and Rika and had a great time together. They ate snacks and played various games. Towards the end of the evening, they went to the plaza to watch the fireworks, only to discover that it was cancelled.

"Oh, no. There's no fireworks?" Sakura looked at the sign, disappointed. She had been looking forward to the fireworks.

"Well, it looks like there's some problems with the fireworks. That's too bad." Tomoyo said sadly. All around them, other festival goers also looked disappointed, including the children. "Let's just wait for Rika to come back then we can leave."

Suddenly, Sakura got an idea. "I know! Tomoyo, wait here! And… make an excuse for us to Rika!" She grabbed Eriol's hand and pulled him along.

"Eh?" Tomoyo was surprised, but quickly realized Sakura would use some magic.

Sakura and Eriol made their way into the treelines, away from the crowd. There was a small hill there and they climbed it and stood there, hidden from view.

"What do you have in mind?" Eriol asked. He could guess what she was about to do though.

"It might not be the same thing as fireworks, but those people are disappointed, so hopefully this one would do." Sakura held up 'The Glow'.

Sakura summoned her staff and cast her card. "Glow!"

The Glow burst forth and illuminated the sky in glowing lights.

"Mom, look! Are those fireflies? They're so pretty!" They heard some exclamations from the crowd.

Eriol smiled widely. "Good idea, Saku. And since you've done all the hard work, allow me to make some simple contributions."

The lights around the plaza dimmed and then went out, making the glowing lights more visible and look even more beautiful.

Sakura smiled as they stood there, watching the lights. This was their handiwork and that reminded her that he was going away soon. Her smile disappeared immediately.

"I can't do this." Sakura said, her voice started breaking.

"Sakura?" Eriol turned and saw her tears.

"I can't do this again." Sakura repeated. "I don't want you to go." She hated herself from crying, but the thought of him leaving again and the coming months of missing him were enough to make her cry. Her resolution earlier, about making him as happy as she could, went out of the window.

"I don't want to go either, but we have no choice." Eriol pulled her into his arms.

"I know that, I do. But I…" Sakura started sobbing in his arms. "I can't… I can't do this again, Eriol. I just can't."

"Yes, you can." Eriol said softly as he stroked her hair soothingly. "I know it's been hard, Saku. But we're going to be alright."

"Let me come with you." Sakura said suddenly as she pulled away from him. "Forget about university, forget about high school, about everything else. Let me come with you." Her tone pleading.

"No." Eriol said firmly. "Sakura listen to me, you must finish high school. After that, you can decide what you want to do, be it university or others. But you _will_ graduate from high school."

"What for?!" Sakura's tone was angry now. "It's not like I'm not already struggling! I don't even know if I can even graduate!"

"Because you don't give up. That's the kind of person you are. That's one of things that I love the most about you. You never give up. You have started this race and you will finish it. I'm sorry I can't be here with you, but you know what? I'm going to be waiting for you at the finish line. When you graduate from high school, I will be there, Saku." He paused. "After that, the decision is yours. If you want to go to university, you can. Or training school or others. And if you decide to come with me, you can too. I'll look up some options for you in England, colleges, universities. Whatever you decide, you have my full support. You know that."

"What if I want to get married instead?" Sakura asked abruptly. "That, that's also an option, right?" They didn't talk about this particular option at all and Sakura was suddenly worried that he might've changed his mind.

Eriol smiled at her and said, "If that's what you really want, then I will be the happiest and the luckiest man in the world to be able to call you my wife."

Sakura sniffled. "It's just so hard…"

"I know, love. I know." Eriol pulled her back into his arms. "But I also know how strong you are and I know that you can do this. I'll have a few weeks off around Christmas and New Year. I'll come back and see you then. We're just going to do this step by step, okay?"

Sakura nodded against his shirt, clutching him. "Okay."

After a while, he let her go and she turned to watch the sky. Eriol wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I love you, Sakura."

"I love you too, Eriol." Sakura said with a teary smile on her face.

After a while, they pulled their magic and went back to the plaza. Eriol got her a bottle of water before they went to find their friends.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo called her friend. When Sakura turned around, she could clearly see that her friend had been crying. Tomoyo instantly looked worried. "Sakura?"

Sakura instinctively moved closer to Eriol, almost as if she was hiding behind him. Her hold on his arm tightened. "I'm okay, Tomoyo." Sakura told her friend.

For his part, Eriol shifted slightly into a protective stance, knowing that Sakura couldn't deal with questions right now, even the well meaning ones. "She's alright, Daidouji. Where's Sasaki?"

Tomoyo hesitated slightly. She could see how protective he was. "She didn't come back. She said something came up and she had to go home."

"Let's just go home then." Sakura said quietly.

"Alright." Tomoyo agreed.

They walked away from the plaza and went their separate ways at the intersection. After they bid each other good night, Tomoyo watched as Eriol wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulders and whispered something to her as they walked away.

* * *

"Don't forget to do your homework, okay?" Eriol told her as they said their goodbye.

Sakura nodded.

"I'll call you when I get there." Eriol said again.

And again, Sakura just nodded.

"Saku…" He finally said. "Are you upset with me?"

"No. I'm just… I don't like this part." Sakura told him and then hugged him.

"It's going to be okay. I will see you at Christmas, alright?" He hugged her back.

"I'll see you at Christmas." Sakura smiled at him and then she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I love you." She whispered into his ear.

"I love you too." He told her with a smile.

Sakura waved at him as he walked to the gate. She missed him already.

* * *

"With your grades, it will be difficult for you to find a university, Kinomoto." Sakura's homeroom teacher/school counselor said kindly. "It's not just this year. Your grades have been declining for the past few years now. Even if you can pick it up this term and next term, you might still have difficulties in finding university."

"What are my other options?" Sakura asked.

"Training schools, short courses, vocational schools. There are several options that I can go through with you if you want." He said. "You can go to university too if that's what you really want. But the options would be very limited, both in terms of the university and the course that you can take."

"What would be some of the possible courses that she can take?" Fujitaka asked.

The teacher looked her report cards. "Gymnastics is the obvious choice, but not a lot of universities offer that and you would still need to pass their entry test, which includes math and science. Some other possible courses are art or literature. If you can pass their entry test, then you'll have higher chance to get in."

"I understand." Sakura nodded. She really had to think about this now.

They thanked the teacher and went home.

"Tomoyo mentioned she might be going to America and Eriol said he can look up some information for me regarding universities in England. What do you think, Dad?" Sakura asked him that evening as they talked about the meeting. "I think maybe I should just give up on getting into university here. Even if I can pass the entry level, it might not be a good university and that would only be the start. I still have to go through university."

"If that's what you want, I don't see why not. I have some contacts in England and America too. I can reach out to them if you want." Fujitaka told her. "But given the choice, I would very much prefer it if you go to England instead of America. Being in a foreign country is not going to be easy. I would feel much more at ease if you're with Eriol."

Sakura nodded. "Me too. But just in case, maybe I could go with Tomoyo too, if she's going. She has several options herself."

"You still have time to think about this, Sakura." Fujitaka said.

"What if… What if I decide to just get married instead? Like Mom." Sakura asked hesitantly.

"That is a decision that you would have to make with your fiancé, not me." Fujitaka told her.

"But will you be okay with it if we decide to do that?" Sakura checked with him.

"I will. Actually, I'm not the one you should be worried about." There was a trace of humor in his voice.

"Touya…" Sakura sighed.

Fujitaka smiled. "He's worried about you too, you know."

"I know, Dad. Everyone is worried about me, it seems." Sakura said.

"We all care about you, Sakura. Of course we're all worried. Even your guardians."

Sakura nodded. "I think I'll just think about it more. Like you said, there's still time. Besides, it's not like I have to go somewhere right after high school."

Fujitaka nodded in agreement. "Exactly. You're still young. You can decide to stay here, take a short break after high school, or go to England, or get married. A few years down the road, if you want, you can still go to university. Do you know that some of my students are even older than me? That's because they chose to do something else first before going to university. You said a few months ago that there's no age limit to get engaged. The same thing also applies to learning. It's never too late to start learning and it's perfectly fine to take a break."

Sakura smiled. "Eriol said learning is a lifelong process. You never stop learning for as long as you live."

"He's right. There's no rush, Sakura. Especially now that we're in a modern time. There's no definite timeline as to when you should do certain things anymore."

Sakura nodded. "In that case, I'll just focus on graduating high school for now."

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe how easier things were for her once she had let go of the idea of having to go to university. She would still do her best in high school, of course. She owed herself that much. But not having the pressure really helped her a lot in terms of her day to day performance and emotional well-being. She studied hard, but she took breaks every now and then. To her utmost surprise, her grades actually improved slightly and she wasn't feeling too stressed out.

Her family also noticed the changes and they couldn't be more relieved. While she still put in extra hours during tests, she knew when to stop and take a break.

On the relationship front, Sakura found that this time round, things were easier for her too. She still missed him very much, but it wasn't as difficult as the first time. And then, the concept of video call became widespread.

At first, it was a little confusing as they had to navigate through the various settings, but pretty soon, they got the hang of it and things were getting that much easier for them. They both invested in earphones to make it easier for them to have private conversation while on video calls.

True to his words, Eriol came for a visit a week before Christmas.

"Let's just get married." Sakura said. They were hanging out together on the sofa at Sakura's house, watching TV.

Eriol turned to look at her in surprise. "Are you sure?"

"I've thought about it a lot for the past few months. Dad is right. There's no rush. We can get married first and then one day, I can still go to university, maybe. I don't know. Let the future me decide on that. But I don't see the point of doing anything else right now. I thought of going to work, but a high school diploma would only take me so far. I'm not currently interested in taking up any training either. So, getting married seems to be the most sensible option." Sakura said. She had thought about it and after considering her various options, including taking her feelings into account, Sakura thought that getting married was the best course of action for her.

"Getting married is a big decision, Saku. How about this? Come with me to London for a holiday after graduation. See how you like it there, then you can decide if you want to get married and move there with me."

"What if I don't like it there? Does it mean we're not going to get married?" Sakura frowned.

"It just means we'll have to wait for me to be done with the council, then I'll come back here to marry you." Eriol told her.

"And who knows how long that's going to take? It could take a few years, if we're lucky." Sakura straightened up, suddenly feeling upset. "I don't know about you, but this long-distance engagement has been very hard on me. Or have you changed your mind about marrying me?"

"This has been hard on me just as much as it's been for you, you know that. I want to marry you, I do. But moving to another country, being away from everything that you've ever known, it's not going to be easy." He paused. "I, I just don't want you to look back one day and regret marrying me."

"I'm sorry." She hugged him. "I didn't mean to upset you. I've thought about this, Eriol. I really have. After months of being without you, I don't want to go through that for longer than necessary. I know it's not going to be easy, being away from my family, but it's not like we can't visit them, right?"

Eriol was silent as he considered her words.

"I won't regret it. I know I won't." Sakura looked at him. "Eriol, I can't do this much longer. I don't want to keep saying goodbye to you over and over again. Every time I say goodbye to you, it hurts. It doesn't get any better, it doesn't get any easier. I doubt it will."

"When I leave you at the airport, I have to force myself to keep walking and not look back because if I did, if I looked back, I wouldn't be able to leave you." Eriol admitted and then he smiled. "Very well then, Ms. Kinomoto. If you're sure you want me to be your husband, then it will be my greatest honour."

Sakura's face broke into a big smile and hugged him. He hugged her back, just as tightly.

"I love you," They both said at the same time and then Eriol kissed her soundly.

* * *

"Married?" Kero asked in surprise when they announced their decision later that evening during dinner.

"Yes. We've talked about it and we agreed that this is what we both want." Sakura told Kero, but her eyes were at Touya. He was surprisingly calm and that made her uneasy. "Touya, did you hear what we said?" Sakura asked unsurely. His reaction actually surprised all of the occupants at the table. Even Yukito looked at his boyfriend strangely.

"Yes, you two are getting married. I'm not deaf, Sakura." Touya said as he picked up another piece of meat with his chopsticks.

"Uh, okay, just checking…" Sakura said quietly as she glanced at her Dad who looked just as confused.

"If you're getting married, you're moving to England, right? How about me and Yue then?" Kero asked.

"You're definitely coming with us, Kero. But Yue…" Sakura turned to look at Yukito. They too had talked about it and they thought that the best action would be to leave Yue behind. "Yue would have to stay here."

"But Yue needs to feed from you and if you're all the way in England, he won't be able to." Kero said.

"That's what we want to discuss with you, Touya." Sakura looked at her brother. "The only way to do this is for Yue to feed from you. It won't be like last time though. Right?" Sakura turned to her fiancé.

"It won't." Eriol confirmed.

Touya looked thoughtful. "Will I be strong enough for him?"

"You are." Eriol confirmed. "Whenever we come and visit, which we will do regularly, Sakura will give him some energy. Think of it as a reserved energy. Then he would only need to feed from you when he runs out of this energy. I'll work out the details, but it is doable."

Touya nodded. "Then there shouldn't be any problem. Yuki, what do you think?"

"I'll trust you two to know what's best for me and Yue." Yukito told Sakura and Eriol. "But I really appreciate it that you're not making me go to England with you."

"We won't do that to you and Touya, Yukito. We know how difficult it is and we wouldn't want you two to go through that." Sakura said.

"Then it's settled." Fujitaka said. "Have you decided on a date yet?"

"Not yet, Dad. It will be sometime after graduation. Probably a few months after." Sakura informed him.

A while later, Touya and Fujitaka were cleaning up while the others sat in the living room, watching TV.

"You seem to take the news well." Fujitaka commented.

Touya looked at his Dad and then turned to the living room. "I've got nothing to complain about. She's in good hands." Touya had seen how happy Sakura had been when she was with Eriol. He had also seen how good Eriol had been with her over the years. He took a good care of her and Touya knew that the young wizard really cared for her. In fact, Touya would go as far as to admit (to himself) that nobody else would be able to care for his sister and make her as happy as Eriol did.

Fujitaka turned to look at them too. Sakura was laughing happily at something that Eriol said. "That she is." He agreed with a smile.


	23. Chapter 23

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to talk to me." Sakura said a few hours later. Eriol had left for the day and Sakura was sitting by herself at the deck when Yue stepped out of the house.

"I haven't offered my congratulations." Yue said to his Mistress.

Sakura turned to him. "Thank you, Yue." She said sincerely. "I know things are moving a little faster and I haven't had the time to discuss things with you or Kero. Here, sit with me." She patted the empty space beside her.

"It's okay. I understand." Yue said as he took a seat beside her.

"I didn't want to leave you behind, but it's not fair for Yukito and Touya if I take you with me." Sakura said. Yue had known this, but Sakura hadn't said it to him directly.

"I wouldn't want that either. I have seen how difficult things are between you and Eriol and I wouldn't want Yukito to go through that." Yue admitted. "Or Touya."

Sakura smiled. "You'll be okay. Touya will take care of you."

Yue nodded. "I know. And you'll be okay too, Sakura. He will take a good care of you. Besides, you'll have Kero with you too."

"So, you approve then?" Sakura asked.

Instead of answering, Yue said, "Kero told me about the other confession."

Sakura rolled her eyes slightly. "He really can't keep his mouth shut, can he? But still, I don't see the connection."

"I wouldn't have approved of that relationship. Neither would Kero, or even Touya." Yue told her. "He cannot handle you."

"Touya wouldn't approve of anything. But what do you mean by that?" Sakura asked.

"Your magic is getting stronger, Sakura, and it will continue to get stronger. If you were with him, he wouldn't be able to handle it, to handle you. He wouldn't be able to help you understand more about your magic, or to help you develop it. He simply doesn't have the skills and the capacity to do so. Besides, being a part of that family would mean that you would have to abide by their rules and traditions." Yue turned to his Mistress. "You wouldn't be able to fully realize your potential."

"Is this your way of saying that Eriol can do what Syaoran cannot do?" Sakura asked her guardian.

"Despite what he said, Eriol was, still _is_ Clow. Your magic came from him and he understands how to handle your power and how to help you. He knows how to teach you to get stronger and control your magic. He's been doing that for years now." Yue said.

"It's not just about magic, Yue." Sakura told him.

"It's not. But at the end of the day, your magic is a big part of you and we would hate for you to lose your light." Yue said. "Your feelings are your own, Sakura, but as your guardians, your well-being and your magic are our priorities. The fact is, given your unique magic and how strong you are, and will be, Eriol is the only one who can handle you."

"That's good to know, I guess." Sakura said. "May I know where this conversation is going?" Sakura asked him. She still couldn't see why Yue said all these things to her.

"This is my answer to your question." Yue said simply.

It took a second for Sakura to realize which question he was talking about. "A simple yes would've been enough, you know." Sakura chuckled. "Thank you, Yue. This means a lot to me that you approve of this."

Yue nodded. "I should go. It's getting late." Yue stood up and Sakura did too. They went inside and Yue turned back into Yukito and left.

* * *

"Married?!" Tomoyo was surprised when Sakura told her about her plan after high school. They just got back to school three days ago and were talking about which university Tomoyo was going to go.

Eriol had gone back to England last week. Sakura sent him off at the airport and he told her he'd be back for her graduation in a few months' time.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, we decided to get married after I finish high school. Maybe in July or August. I thought you'd want to know."

"I… Wow!" Tomoyo was clearly surprised by this news. "I mean… Congratulations! But I thought you wanted to go to university?"

"I did. But the reality is, I can't go. At least not in the way I had wanted to." Sakura sighed. "I, my grades are not that good, Tomoyo. I'm already struggling as it is. According to Mr. Yokoshima, it's going to be difficult to find a university. I'd only have very limited choices of universities and courses. I'd have to pass the entrance test too, which might include math and science. I could go to vocational school or to work, but I'm not really interested in those. Besides, with only a high school diploma, I won't be able to advance my career too far."

"But getting married is not the only option." Tomoyo pointed out. "You can take up short courses and stuff. There are many of them now."

"True, but I can also do that after." Sakura took a bite of her fried chicken. "The past year hasn't been easy, you know that. Being away from him, the time difference, the distance, it's very difficult. I don't want to be clingy or anything, but I don't want to do that any longer than necessary either. Going to work, taking up short courses, I can also do those things after I get married. Eventually, we will get married, this is just to speed up the process."

"Are you going to move to England, Sakura? That's very far away." Tomoyo frowned.

"You're going to move to Tokyo and Chiharu and Yamazaki are moving to Hokkaido. You even thought of going to America too, remember? At that time, I talked to my Dad about going with you, but you're not going. Eriol said that there are many universities in England too and if I want to go one day, I can." Sakura told her friend.

Tomoyo was quiet. "I supposed you're right. We're all going to different places after this. I guess things are bound to change at some point."

"We would still keep in touch, of course. It's difficult, but still doable." Sakura assured her. "You're going to be busy with university though."

"Looking back, things really have changed over the years, haven't they? Magic, Li, Hiiragizawa, and now you're going to move to England." Tomoyo said sadly.

"That's life, I suppose. Things change and we move on. Syaoran went back to Hong Kong and started his training, then he got married. We're going to finish high school and we're all going to do our own things." Sakura smiled. "There's one thing though, Tomoyo. And I suppose this is a good time to ask you. I've always wondered, during junior high, why were you so determined to get me and Syaoran together?" Sakura asked and noted that her friend's expression turned into surprise.

"I told you, it's because Li cared for you." Tomoyo said, but she averted her eyes.

"He did, but is that really the only reason?" Sakura asked. She had a feeling that it was more than that.

"Why does it matter, Sakura? It's in the past." Tomoyo said, trying to get her friend to drop the subject.

"I just want to know. During that time, we drifted apart, because of that. We've always been close since we were kids, but we drifted apart because of a boy, or two." Sakura said. "So, what happened?"

Tomoyo was silent. "I, I didn't want you to get hurt, Sakura."

"You told me that about Eriol, but we weren't even together yet back then."

"It wasn't just about Hiiragizawa, it was also about Yukito." Tomoyo admitted.

Sakura was surprised. "Yukito? What does Yukito have anything to do with this?"

Tomoyo sighed. "After what happened with Yukito, I saw how hurt you were, how heartbroken you were, and I didn't want that to happen again. I knew Li liked you and so, I thought he would be a safe choice for you. He wouldn't reject you, like Yukito did. Then I noticed how you and Hiiragizawa got closer. After what he did to you, I was worried if you got closer, then you'd start liking him and then it would be Yukito all over again. If you and Li got together, I was hoping that he wouldn't want you to spend time with Hiiragizawa again." Tomoyo paused, she might as well told her everything at this point. "The last reason is entirely selfish. I didn't want to lose you."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked confusedly.

"As you've said, we've always been close, then Li came along and then there were three of us. It was great, it was perfect. You, me and Li. So, I wanted to keep that, because it was safe, it was familiar. If you and Li got together, I would still be part of the group. Li cared for you and I knew he wouldn't hurt you. It was a perfect setup."

Sakura stared at her in surprise. "Tomoyo…"

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I know it's selfish, but I…" Tomoyo looked down, not knowing what to say.

Silence fell between them, but then Sakura started, "You were being selfish, Tomoyo, but I can understand why, I really do. Change is scary and it's okay to want to keep things the same because of the unknown." Sakura too a deep breath. "I _was_ hurt about what happened with Yukito, but not for long. When I saw how happy he and Touya are, I'm happy for them. That's when I realized that what I felt for Yukito wasn't even real in the first place. It had felt real, but thinking back, it was just like he said. I admired him and looked up to him." Sakura paused. "It came as a surprise for me too, but it doesn't matter because soon after that, I started liking Eriol. I didn't realize it at first and when I did, I didn't want to acknowledge it because he's, well, he's him. But what you did, it pushed us closer together until he finally told me how he feels."

Now it was Tomoyo's turn to look at Sakura. "You did? When… When did you start liking him?"

Sakura thought about it. "I don't know. I mean, we've always been close, so it's kind of hard to pinpoint the exact timeline. Maybe around end of elementary or beginning of junior high?"

"So, when Li…" Tomoyo remembered that Syaoran had confessed his feelings during summer of the first year of junior high.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. That was actually when I realized it. But it took me a while to actually acknowledge it, even to myself."

"I see... Are you upset with me, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked unsurely.

"No. It was years ago. I just wanted to know, that's all. You did what you did because you care for me, why would I be upset with you?" Sakura said gently. "Thank you for telling me this, Tomoyo. I really appreciate it."

Tomoyo looked relieved. "I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that you'd be angry with me. I just want what's best for you, Sakura."

"I know. And I thank you for that. But I've found what's best for me, Tomoyo. I really have. You don't worry about me, okay?" Sakura assured her.

Tomoyo smiled and nodded. Five minutes later, the bell rang and they started walking back to class, talking excitedly about their upcoming class trip in two weeks' time.

* * *

"Hi, guys…" Sakura accepted the video call request from Tomoyo. "Sorry I have to turn off the camera." Sakura didn't want her friends, and who knew who else was there, to see her in her current state. She was in bed, in her pajamas, having a fever. Her nose and eyes were red and puffy from too much sneezing and nose-blowing. Her throat felt scratchy and it hurt to swallow.

"That's okay, Sakura. How are you doing?" Rika asked.

"I'm fine. How's the trip? How's Hokkaido?" Sakura fell sick just three days before the class trip and she was so upset. But she got a viral infection and she wasn't allowed to join the trip. The doctor had prescribed a week-long of rest and a bunch of medications for her.

"It's great!" Naoko said. Sakura could see the camera panned out and she could see the beautiful scenery and the mountain. "I'm sorry you have to miss this, Sakura."

"That's okay. Looks like so much fun though." Sakura said, feeling sorry for herself because she had missed the trip.

They continued to chat for a while, until Naoko and Rika left the conversation.

"How are you really feeling, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked with concern.

"Miserable, to be honest." Sakura admitted. "This is our last class trip ever and you guys are having so much fun and I'm stuck at home in bed."

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Tomoyo said. "But your health is very important."

"I know, I know." Sakura said. "But I want to be out there! In Hokkaido! Having fun with everyone." That was followed by a series of coughs.

"But you'll be back on Monday, right? For school?" Tomoyo asked after Sakura had done coughing. This trip was like the last hurrah for them because after this, they had to focus fully on their study.

"I should be." Sakura said and then she got a notification of another incoming video call. "Oh, sorry Tomoyo. Eriol's calling. I'll talk to you later, okay? Have fun!"

"Okay. Get some rest and get well soon, alright?" Tomoyo told her friend then she hung up.

Sakura accepted the video call from Eriol. She looked bad, with her messy hair and her PJs, but she didn't bother to turn off the camera. If he didn't like what he saw now, at least they hadn't gotten married yet. "Hi!"

"Hi yourself. How are you feeling?" Eriol asked worriedly, taking in her appearance. Sakura's face was slightly red due to the fever. "Are you still having fever?"

"Yes, but it's getting better. But I'm feeling awful." Sakura said. "Just got off the phone with Tomoyo. They're having so much fun in Hokkaido." She pouted miserably. Then she noticed his look. He was wearing a three piece suit with tie. "Is that how you dress for work?" Sakura asked. She had never seen him dressed for work before. They usually reserved video calls for the weekends.

"Yes." He looked down at himself. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong. You look great. I've just never seen you dressed for work before. I thought you'd be wearing a robe or something, magic council and all." Sakura told him with a smile.

He rolled his eyes slightly in amusement. "Have you taken your medication?"

"I have. The next round would be after dinner." Sakura told him. "I'll be fine. It's nothing serious."

"I know. But it doesn't mean I'm not worried." Eriol said.

"Thanks for worrying." Sakura gave him a smile. "Go to work. We'll talk again later."

"Bye, Saku. Get some rest, okay?" He said and then hung up after she nodded.

* * *

On Valentine's Day, Eriol sent a bouquet of a dozen roses to Sakura. The bouquet was waiting for her when she got home from school.

"Oh?" Sakura looked surprised to see it lying on the dining table.

"That came for you earlier." Fujitaka told her from his place in the kitchen.

"Thanks, Dad!" Sakura said and took the bouquet upstairs to her room. She put her bag on the floor and looked at the roses. Just like last year, there was a white envelope stuck to it. Sakura smiled and opened it to find a white card.

' _Next year, I will give you the bouquet myself. I miss you and I can't wait to see you. Happy Valentine's Day. E._ '

Sakura grinned widely and grabbed her phone to send him a text.

' _Got the flowers. Miss you too and I'm looking forward to next year. Happy Valentine's Day!_ ' She sent the text and then she got changed before going downstairs to help her Dad prepare dinner.

* * *

As finals got closer, Sakura and her friends got more stressed out. They spent hours upon hours reviewing and studying.

"Alright Sakura. It's your first day of finals. Ganbatte!" Fujitaka said as he passed her some lunch. "Stay calm and don't panic. You're going to be okay."

"I will. Thanks, Dad!" Sakura nodded. She was calm. She knew panicking would only make it worse. She didn't need to ace it, she just needed to do her best and pass. That thought had taken a lot of the pressure off.

"Ganbatte!" Both Kero and Touya said as she left the house.

Sakura was walking to school when she got a text. ' _Good morning, Saku. Ganbatte! You can do this!_ ' Eriol's text read. By now, Sakura didn't need the London clock anymore. She knew it was around midnight there.

' _Thanks! Talk to you soon! Good night!_ ' She replied and then continued to walk to school. When she arrived at school, she could feel the atmosphere was different. Everyone was busy doing last minutes reviews. Sakura sat down at her desk and took out her book. It wouldn't hurt to do some reviewing before the test started.

When the test started a few minutes later, one of the students had a breakdown and had to leave the room. Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ' _Here we go._ ' She told herself as she started reading the questions.


	24. Chapter 24

"Please, Sakura… Pretty please…?" Kero pleaded with his Mistress.

"I don't know, Kero. There will be a lot of people there." Sakura frowned from her place on the bed. "What do you think?" She asked Eriol, who was sitting on the floor, with his back against her bed. He came for a few days to attend Sakura's graduation, staying true to his words of being there when she graduated.

Eriol looked at Kero and then smiled. "I think if anyone deserves to attend your graduation, it would be Kero." Eriol knew that the guardian had been helping Sakura a lot, even more than anyone else, including himself. Kero kept her company when she had to study late into the night, he was there when she cried in frustration because she couldn't understand anything, he made sure that her books and papers were ready for her in the morning… Yes, if anyone deserved to be in her graduation, it would be Kero.

Kero actually looked touched at his words. "Thank you! I will behave and I won't make any trouble. I promise!"

"Alright then. But you will behave, okay? Stay in Eriol's bag and don't make a sound." Sakura told him firmly. She agreed with her fiancé and knew that without her Sun guardian, things would have been that much more difficult for her, especially in the past year or so.

"I will!" Kero said solemnly.

"Spinel wants to attend too, by the way." Eriol told her.

"He does?" Sakura was pleasantly surprised.

Eriol nodded. "You'll have to be extra quiet, Kero." He told the older Sun guardian.

"I'm not going to make a sound." Kero nodded seriously.

The day after was the graduation day. Sakura left home early to get ready. She arrived at school and found her friends in their classroom.

"I'm going to miss this place." One of them said.

"Can't believe I say this, but me too!" Another said.

The general atmosphere was joyful, but sentimental since this might be the last time they saw each other.

Everyone was led to the great hall and took their seats. Sakura turned to the audience and saw her family, Eriol, Fujitaka, Yukito and Touya. Eriol was holding his backpack on his lap and Sakura knew the two guardians were there. The people who mattered the most to her were all here and she couldn't be happier, or prouder of what she had achieved.

Eriol had modified his backpack to make it work like a one-way mirror. This way, the two guardians would be able to see what was going on outside, but the backpack looked like a normal backpack from the outside, which they appreciated.

After the ceremony, Sakura's family went outside to wait for her at the school yard, knowing that she would want to say goodbye to her friends and teachers.

Sakura and the rest of her classmates said goodbye and thanked their homeroom teacher, presenting him with a giant flower bouquet that they had bought for him. They took some group pictures and chattered excitedly.

"Congratulations, Sakura!" Her family congratulated her when she came out to meet them and Eriol handed her a flower bouquet and a stuffed bear wearing a graduation cap. "This is from all of us. We're so proud of you."

"Thank you!" Sakura held the flowers and the bear, then glanced at Eriol's backpack. "Any problem?"

"None at all. They're behaving so well." Eriol took off his backpack so that Sakura could see the Sun guardians.

Sakura peered into the bag and saw Kero and Spinel. "Congratulations!" They said quietly, but excitedly.

"Thanks!" Sakura thanked them and then Eriol had to close the backpack again since more people were passing by. Some of them stopped by to say hi to Eriol and he congratulated them on graduating.

"C'mon, let's take some pictures first!" Yukito said as he held a digital camera.

After they took some pictures, Sakura put her diploma and her bear inside Eriol's bag and then they made their way to the school gate. Sakura was chatting with Touya and Yukito, who noted that the principal still had the exact same speech as he did a few years ago during their own graduation. Eriol and Fujitaka were walking a few paces behind them, talking about the history of Japan education system.

"Sakura!" Sakura saw Tomoyo waving at her from the gate as she stood there with her mother.

"Oh, hi Tomoyo!" The group approached the pair.

"Congratulations, Sakura!" Sonomi said with a smile on her face as Sakura's group congratulated Tomoyo.

"Thank you. Mrs. Daidouji." Sakura thanked her, bowing and smiling brightly.

"Oh look at you! You've finished high school." Sonomi said and then she glanced over at Eriol and Fujitaka's direction briefly before looking back at Sakura. "Too bad you're not going to continue your education and get married instead. If only you were going to university, Nadeshiko would've been so proud of you." She was also criticizing Fujitaka for allowing Sakura to get married.

The smile disappeared from Sakura's face, as it did from the faces of her family. Touya narrowed his eyes angrily and Yukito quickly grabbed his arm before Touya started yelling. Eriol and Fujitaka had identical frowns across their faces and inside Eriol's bag, Spinel placed his paw on Kero's mouth to muffle him when he sensed the other guardian was about to say something. "Quiet." Spinel hissed.

Sonomi either didn't realize the change in the atmosphere or chose to ignore it as she continued, "Anyway, how about we go for lunch to celebrate?"

Before Sakura could say anything, Fujitaka spoke up. "Actually Sonomi, we've already had another plan to celebrate. Maybe next time." His tone was as polite as ever, but Sakura could tell that he was upset.

Sonomi frowned, displeased that Fujitaka had refused her invitation. "That's too bad. Alright then Tomoyo, let's go." She said and turned on her heels.

Tomoyo followed behind her mother, while glancing back to the group. She too was surprised by her mother's comment. She knew Sakura chose this route not because she didn't want to go university, but because she had some struggles with her study. Tomoyo saw Eriol going to Sakura's side as Touya glared at Sonomi and Tomoyo. Yukito tried to calm Touya down as Fujitaka just stood there, an unreadable expression on his face.

* * *

"The nerve of that woman…" Touya said angrily as they walked back to the house.

Sakura walked quietly, holding onto Eriol's hand, as she thought about Sonomi's comment. Sakura had long ago accepted the fact that she wasn't going to university. It had also been her own decision to get married and she was happy with it. She had no problem with that part of the comment.

The part that bothered her was the part when Sonomi implied that her Mom would only be proud of her if she had gone to university. While she knew deep down that it wasn't true, but it still bothered her.

They reached home and Sakura went upstairs. "I'm going to get changed."

Eriol opened his bag to let the guardians out. "I'll start lunch." Eriol said as he walked to the kitchen, followed by Touya, Yukito and the two guardians, with Kero muttering some chosen words directed at Mrs. Daidouji.

Fujitaka went upstairs to talk to Sakura. He knocked on her door. "Sakura? It's Dad. Can I come in?"

"Come in, Dad." Sakura said, her voice slightly muffled.

Fujitaka opened the door and saw his daughter sitting on her bed, still in her school uniform. He went to her and sat down beside her.

"Is it true?" Sakura started. "That Mom…"

"No, of course not. She didn't know what she was talking about." Fujitaka told Sakura firmly. "Your mother would've been so proud of you, no matter what."

"But how do you know?" Sakura looked at the floor.

"Because we're your parents, Sakura. I am proud of you and I know that she would be too." Fujitaka said. "You and Touya are our pride and joy, ever since you were born."

"Why did she say that, Dad?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know." Fujitaka admitted. "But what she said, it's not true. You've made us very proud. It doesn't matter if you don't go to university, nothing would change how proud we are and how happy we are for you."

"She always treats you so badly…" Sakura said quietly. She had noticed that over the years and now that she was older, she thought it wasn't fair. Her Dad didn't do anything wrong.

"She's never forgiven me from taking your mother away from her family. When she decided to marry me, they weren't happy with me." Fujitaka said. "But it wasn't their fault. They loved her very much and that's why they did what they did."

"But if they had loved her, shouldn't they be happy for her?" Sakura frowned.

"I was just a young teacher back then, Sakura. I just started my career. It was my first job too. Your mother was sixteen. Her family had meant well. They didn't want her to suffer or have a difficult life with me." Fujitaka explained.

"But she was happy." Sakura didn't understand.

"Happiness is not the only factor in a relationship. I'm sure you've also known that by now. There are other factors too, including financial security. That's the reality." Fujitaka told her. "After you get married, there will be problems, Sakura. It's bound to happen in every marriage. You are sharing your life with another person, building a life together. There will be times when you have to compromise with each other. Once things have settled down, you will also have to face reality that there are bills to pay and things to be taken care of."

"Was it difficult for you two?" Sakura looked at her father. Fujitaka didn't talk a lot about her Mom and how their life was back then.

"It was. But we were very happy indeed. When you're married, it's easy to take things for granted, to take each other for granted. You're married after all, so it would be easy to assume that the other person will always be there no matter what. But that's one of the biggest mistakes that you could ever make in a marriage. Never take each other for granted, Sakura. Always make an effort to take care and love each other." Fujitaka told his daughter.

Sakura nodded. "I understand, Dad. Thank you."

"Get changed and join us downstairs, okay?" Fujitaka patted her back comfortingly. Sakura smiled and nodded.

* * *

"There's something that I want to talk to you about. It's about Nakuru." Eriol said later that evening when they were hanging out at the back of her house.

"Nakuru? Is she okay?" Sakura asked, her brows furrowed in worry.

"She is, but before I left, she made a request. She wanted to… resign." Eriol told her.

"From her job?" Sakura asked confusedly, not understanding why that had bothered him so much.

"From being my guardian." Eriol clarified.

Sakura was surprised. "What? Why?"

"Remember her boyfriend?" Eriol asked. Sakura nodded. "They fell in love and she wants to have a normal life with him, a non-magic one. They're also moving to his hometown in Ireland. So, she asked if I would be willing to let her go."

Sakura looked at him. "What are you going to do?"

"My biggest worry is that she's just asking this on the spur of the moment. They haven't been together for that long, after all. But she has apparently thought about this for a while now. We talked about this and I've decided to let her go. However, unlike Touya, her boyfriend won't be able to sustain her, so I will have to drain her magic." Eriol said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Sakura was surprised. She knew that meant that Nakuru would turn normal, with no magic and that was irreversible. She took his hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay. I understand why she wants this. She clearly loves him and it wouldn't be fair of me to ask her to stay with me while she could be with him. He's leaving and if she didn't go with him, it would be a long-distance and I know how difficult it is. Just like you don't want to put Touya and Yukito in that situation, I'm not going to put her in similar situation either." Eriol told her. "I just hope that neither of us would regret this decision in the future."

Sakura wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Eriol. It must be difficult for you." While the situations were similar, Sakura didn't have to say goodbye to Yue, but he had to say goodbye to Ruby Moon.

"Back to just Spinel and me, I suppose. Some peace and quiet." Eriol said with a melancholy smile as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Enjoy it while it lasts. Soon, you'll have me and Kero around. Then you'll never have any peace and quiet ever again." Sakura tried to cheer him up.

Eriol chuckled. "Having you with me is something that I've been looking forward to. But you're right. There will be no more peace and quiet with those two around."

Sakura smiled. "I'll have to admit though, sometimes it's good to hear them arguing. I don't know, it's oddly comforting."

Eriol nodded in agreement. "I have something for you, by the way." He let her go and reached into his pants pocket and presented her with a small box.

"Another ring?" Sakura raised her eyebrows jokingly. Since she was no longer a student, she had taken off her engagement ring from around her neck earlier and was now wearing it on her finger.

"No, that would come later. This is your graduation present." Eriol grinned, noticing his ring on her finger.

Sakura smiled widely and took the box from him. She opened it and inside, she found a pair of golden earrings in the shape of the stars.

"They're perfect for you, my star." Eriol said and leaned to place a kiss on her cheek. "You did it, Saku. I'm so proud of you."

"I love them. Thank you." Sakura said, smiling as she fingered the earrings. They were adorned with some little diamonds that sparkled beautifully. "I love you." She told him, turning to kiss him properly.

"I love you too." He returned with a smile of his own.

Three days later, she sent him off at the airport. But this time, she wasn't feeling too sad, knowing that next time, she would be going with him instead of waving at him from behind the security line.


	25. Chapter 25

Sakura couldn't believe the amount of paperwork needed to get married. It was made even worse due to the fact that Eriol was a foreigner. On top of that, Sakura also had to take care of her residential visa in England.

The number of forms that she had to fill out seemed endless. She also filled up Eriol's forms so that they wouldn't be wasting time filling up forms when he got to Japan. They had planned the timeline carefully. Eriol would get to Japan earlier so that they could obtain their marriage certificate first. Then once they got that, Sakura could go ahead and changed her last name. After that, they could take care of her visa and everything else.

On top of the paperwork, Sakura also had to take care of the wedding reception itself. After much discussion and checking with Fujitaka, the couple agreed to keep it small and simple, as in not having a reception altogether. They would invite their closest friends for lunch, at Eriol's house. Since it was going to be a summer wedding, a garden party sounded like a good idea.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Dad?" Sakura checked with him.

"Yes, of course. It's your wedding, Sakura. Do whatever you two want." Fujitaka assured her.

"It's not going to be a traditional wedding. More like a luncheon, to be honest." Sakura wanted to make sure that her father was okay with this.

"Your relationship is not traditional. Why should the wedding be?" Fujitaka pointed out. "You'll get away with it too, seeing that Eriol is not even a Japanese."

Despite that, Sakura still wanted some traditional elements to be there, such as a wedding dress. Tomoyo had of course volunteered her service to make Sakura a wedding dress. But Sakura knew she would have to keep a very close eye on that because otherwise, Tomoyo might go overboard.

"I just want something _very_ simple, Tomoyo, I mean it." Sakura emphasized.

"Leave it to me, Sakura." Tomoyo assured her. When designing it, Tomoyo consulted often with Sakura to make sure that Sakura would like the dress.

Sakura told Eriol to take care of his own suit. She wasn't going to do _all_ the works, that's for sure. He would have to contribute _something_.

"What are the things that you want for the wedding?" Sakura asked. "Seeing that it's your wedding too."

"The ceremony. That's all I want." Eriol said and explained to her how important a ceremony was. "Magic or no magic, a ceremony is binding. So, I want that."

"We're definitely going to have a ceremony. Anything else?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing else for me. I'll leave the rest up to you." He had told her. "I can take care of the flowers too. So you don't have to order anything from the florist." He offered.

"Okay, that's great. One less thing to worry about." Sakura told him. She hesitated slightly before asking, "Do you want to invite John?"

"I'll think about it." Eriol said simply.

One by one, and with Tomoyo's help (she had assigned herself as Sakura's self-appointed wedding assistant), Sakura took care of the things that needed to be taken care of. Sakura also sent out the wedding invitations to her friends, including Syaoran and Meiling. However, they had declined due to some family matters that happened to be happening around the same time.

* * *

"You're getting married?" John asked in surprise when Eriol told him.

"Yes. It's going to be in Japan. And if you're available and willing, I would like for you to be my best man." Eriol had thought about it and had decided that it would be good for John to know. He had proven that he was trustworthy, so Eriol decided to trust him with Sakura too.

John was floored. "You want me to be your best man?" He was in disbelief. Never once did he think Eriol would want him to get involved in his life other than being his legal guardian. Even then, it was strictly on papers only. But now he was asking him to be his best man, in his wedding, to someone that John had never even heard of before. He didn't even know that Eriol had a girlfriend! "Is that why you stayed in Japan for years and have been going back and forth to Japan? Because of her?"

"Yes." Eriol said simply. "The wedding will be on the first of July. Would you be my best man?"

"Of course. I'll be honoured. When do you need me?" John quickly agreed.

"I need to get there to take care of paperwork around three weeks earlier. You can go there anytime before the wedding." Eriol said. "Once you've decided on the dates, let me know. I'll make the arrangements."

"I will." John was still a little dumbstruck that Eriol had asked him to not only attend his wedding, but also to be his best man. Then his curiosity grew as he thought about the bride-to-be. What kind of woman had managed to capture the younger mage's heart? ' _Must be someone very special._ ' He mused.

* * *

Sakura was quite surprised, but delighted, when Eriol told her that he had asked John to be his best man. Undeniably, Sakura had been curious about him. After all, this man had been Eriol's legal guardian until a couple of months ago when Eriol turned eighteen. She was glad that this man had been taking care of him after his adoptive parent's death, including keeping Eriol's secret.

Sakura had also contacted the priest for the ceremony and asked something important, which he had agreed.

"Kero! I need your help!" Sakura burst into her room excitedly after she got back from talking to the priest.

"What is it?" Kero asked curiously.

"You can speak English, right? I need your help in translating something for me." Sakura had been thinking about it and wanted this to be a surprise for Eriol. She was planning to add her own vow to the standard vow and had wanted to do it in English. But she wasn't confident enough to ask for anyone else's help, other than Kero.

"What is it?" Kero asked. Sakura explained to him what she wanted to do and Kero readily agreed to help her. He then wrote down the English translation and then taught Sakura how to say them. "It's not the exact translation since the two languages have different sentence structures, but the meaning is the same." Kero explained to her as he gave her the literal translation from English to Japanese.

"That's even better! Thanks, Kero!" Sakura hugged him. "Don't tell Eriol, okay?"

"Okay, Sakura!" Kero was just happy that she was happy.

Happy that this had been taken care of, Sakura crossed it from her list. She looked at her list and frowned. There was one thing that she hadn't even touched yet: the wedding rings.

* * *

As planned, Eriol arrived in Japan around three weeks before the wedding. The first order of business on their list was to go to the city hall to sign their marriage license. Since Sakura was 18 years old, she still needed parental consent to get married, so Fujitaka had to be there. They asked Touya and Yukito to be their witnesses and both had agreed. So, the day after Eriol arrived, after they made sure they had all the documents ready, they all made their way to the city hall.

An hour later, Sakura and Eriol walked out of the city hall as husband and wife.

They parted ways with the rest, but they were going to have a family dinner later that day to celebrate.

"Alright, what should we do now?" Eriol asked. They had submitted Sakura's name change form too.

"Nothing, I guess. The rest would have to wait until tomorrow." Sakura looked at her list. "Ah! Let's go to the mall! We need to look for rings."

"The mall it is, dear wife." Eriol said with a smirk, his eyes twinkling with happiness.

Sakura blushed as he called her that. "We're married…" She smiled as she realized that this was real.

"Yes, we are." He grinned at her happily and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm never letting you go now." He told her before kissing her. Eriol couldn't believe that after years of loving her, of dreaming of her, she was finally his wife.

"Eriol, people are looking…" Sakura muttered afterwards, but in all honesty, she didn't care that much.

He let her go with a smirk. "Shall we?"

They made their way to the station and took the train to the mall.

They walked around the mall, going from one jewelry store to the next, but nothing really caught Sakura's eyes. While most of the men's rings look the same, there were many variety for the women.

"I've looked at some other stores too during the past couple of months, but nothing seems to click. Maybe we should just buy one and be done with it." Sakura sighed.

"We still have three weeks. We'll find it." Eriol assured her. While he would be happy with a simple plain ring, Sakura wanted something special, and he would oblige.

"When is Nakuru going to get here?" Sakura asked. They had asked Nakuru to be their wedding photographer.

"A week before the wedding." Eriol told her as they walked to the station.

"Tomoyo's the videographer. Honestly, she's like this multitasker. She helped me a lot with the preparation, designed the dress… You got your suit, right?" Sakura suddenly remembered. She had trusted him to get that one done and never really checked with him.

"I do. Stop worrying, Saku. Everything will be okay. It's going to be a great day." Eriol held his hand out to her as they descended the stairs. She accepted it and they continued to talk as they went to the platform and waited for the train.

* * *

"Congratulations!" Kero said as they sat together for a family dinner later that day. "We're so happy for you!"

The rest of the party echoed his sentiment, even Touya was smiling widely.

"Thank you!" Sakura hadn't stopped smiling since they started.

After dinner, Fujitaka and Touya cleaned up as Kero told them that there was something that the guardians wanted to tell them. Yukito turned into Yue and the two Sun guardians turned into their true forms, much to the couple's confusion.

"Is everything okay?" Sakura asked as she and Eriol stood side by side across the guardians.

"We've talked about this and we thought this would be the best for everyone involved." Yue started.

"Since you two are married now, we think the most sensible thing to do is to acknowledge both of you to be our Master and Mistress." Spinel continued.

"Well, technically, in my and Yue's case, it's re-acknowledging you as our Master, Eriol." Kero added. "So, what do you think?"

Sakura looked surprised. "Oh…" She was touched. This was the ultimate way for their guardians to show their approval. "I mean, I'd love to, if that's what you all want. Eriol?' She turned to him.

"It would be my pleasure, of course." Eriol smiled. Even he hadn't expected this.

"In that case…" Spinel started as he bowed his head. "Master and Mistress, I give you my life's service as your guardian. I'm yours to command, from today onwards, for the rest of eternity."

"I accept." Eriol told him firmly and Sakura followed suit. After that, one by one, the other two guardians followed Spinel's example.

Once they were done with that, they turned back into their false forms and Yukito.

A few hours later, Eriol left with Spinel. Even if they were married now, they had both decided that Sakura would still stay here until their actual ceremony.

* * *

For the next couple of weeks, Sakura and Eriol were busy with paperwork and even more paperwork. They went to the immigration office to get Sakura's new passport. While Sakura could submit her visa application online, she still needed to go the British embassy to get her photo taken, an interview and sign a few documents.

A week after Sakura got her new passport and had submitted her online application, they went to Tokyo to go to the British embassy to take care of Sakura's visa. They were hoping to get everything done by the wedding day so that they wouldn't have to worry about it. However, they were also ready to cancel their honeymoon in case they were not done with everything after the wedding.

In between the different offices, they also did some ring shopping, but they still hadn't found the ones that Sakura liked. She was giving up.

"Okay, this is it." Sakura said as they spotted a small jewelry store at the corner in Tokyo. "If we can't find them here, we'll just get whatever's available." She said as they entered the store. It was a small family owned store with quaint design. It wasn't too flashy, but the shopkeepers looked friendly and welcoming.

"Welcome! How can we help you today?" A young woman greeted them.

"We're looking for wedding rings." Sakura told her.

"This way, please." The shopkeeper led them to a display case that had the wedding rings. "These are our collections."

They looked at he display case and Sakura looked slightly disappointed, until she saw it. The ring was a simple, channel set wedding ring with pink and white diamonds surrounding the band.

Sakura's face broke into a smile upon seeing them and had asked to take a look at them more closely.

"This pair is very unique." The woman told them as she took the rings out of the display. "The bands are made from the same piece of platinum, which is more durable and sturdier than white gold." She placed the rings on top of the display glass and Sakura looked at them with joy. She had finally found it!

Eriol saw Sakura's face and knew that they had found their rings. "Shall we get these ones then?"

"I love them! What do you think?" Sakura asked as her eyes were glued to the rings.

"They're perfect." Eriol said. The man's ring was plain and simple, which he had no problem with. "Can we try them on?"

"Of course!" The shopkeeper removed the rings from their box and handed them to the couple. They tried them and lo and behold, they fitted perfectly. "That looks like a perfect fit for both of you!"

Sakura looked closely at the ring on her finger. It looked perfect. She loved it already. She was so happy that they had finally found the perfect rings, until the shopkeeper told them the price. Then Sakura looked disappointed.

"We'll take them." Eriol told the shopkeeper, much to Sakura's surprise.

"Ah, sorry, can you excuse us for a second?" Sakura told the shopkeeper, who nodded understandingly. Sakura pulled him aside. "What are you doing?"

"Buying the rings?" Eriol looked confused. "I thought you liked them?"

"I do. They're very lovely, but they're also very expensive." Sakura told him quietly. "We can't afford it."

"Of course we can. You love them, they're perfect, we're getting them." Eriol hadn't told Sakura about their financial status yet, wanting to wait until they got to London.

Sakura looked at him worriedly. "But Eriol…"

"Don't worry about a thing, Saku." He smiled at her reassuringly. "We're not broke. Trust me."

Sakura finally let him lead her back to the display. "We're taking the rings." He told the shopkeeper firmly.

"That's perfect! Since the rings fit you perfectly, there's no need for resizing. We also offer engraving service." The shopkeeper told them.

"How long is that going to take? We need them by the end of next week." Eriol checked.

"About three days. You'll definitely have them by end of next week." The shopkeeper assured him. "What would you like it to say?"

Sakura and Eriol looked at each other. They both knew immediately what they wanted to put there.

After they took care of the engraving, Eriol paid for the rings with his credit card.

"Are… Are you rich?" Sakura asked later after they left the shop. They'd come back in three days' time to collect them.

"No, _we_ are." Eriol said simply. "What's mine is yours too, so we are rich… Well, we're comfortable at least."

"Oh my god…" Sakura murmured. She never thought that he had money. She knew he was working and he must be paid for his job, but to buy something as expensive as the rings without any hesitation, he must have had some extra, a lot of extra, from the look of it.

"We'll talk more about it when we get to London. For now, don't worry about it, okay?" Sakura just nodded. "Let's get some ice cream." Eriol said cheerfully as he saw an ice cream shop up ahead.

Three days later, when they picked up the rings, they checked the engraving. The words ' _I promise_ ' were written on the inside of their rings in an elegant script.

* * *

John spotted Eriol standing with a young woman at the arrival hall. She looked like she was about the same age with him and had a shoulder-length brown hair. The blue haired mage was listening to what she was saying attentively, nodding his head every now and then.

Eriol looked at the crowd and saw John walking towards them. "There he is." He said and Sakura turned to look at John.

Sakura saw a man walking towards them, pulling his suitcase behind. He looked like he was about the same age as her Dad. He had short dark brown hair and blue eyes. As he approached, Sakura saw that he was about the same height as Fujitaka and Eriol too.

"Sakura, this is John Cavendish." Eriol introduced them in English. "John, this is my wife, Sakura." He was grinning when he said it. It felt so good to be able to introduce her as his wife now. He could see her blushing slightly too.

Sakura bowed in greeting and so did John. While he didn't understand Japanese, he knew some traditions in Japan. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cavendish." Sakura said in English. Since she had decided to get married and move to London, she had started learning some English on her own, on top of what she had learned in school.

"Nice to meet you too, Sakura." John said politely. "And please, call me John."

It was four days before the wedding and the couple went to pick him up from the airport. They walked to the exit, grabbed a taxi and then headed back to Tomoeda. John would be staying at Eriol's house.

John could sense that Sakura had magic. Her presence was faint though, which told him that she was hiding it. While John wasn't anywhere as powerful as Eriol was, he was a strong magician himself, with a decent amount of experience under his belt, so he could feel her presence still.

They arrived at the house and Eriol showed John to his room to let him get settled.

"Let me know if you need anything. Spinel and Nakuru are also here if you need any help." Eriol told him. "I'll see you at dinner in about an hour or so."

"Alright. Thanks." John said and then Eriol left.

Eriol went downstairs and found Sakura and Nakuru in the kitchen, chatting as they prepared dinner. Nakuru arrived a few days earlier to do a pre-wedding photoshoot for the couple. It was part of her photography package. But she refused to be paid for her service, saying that it was her wedding present for them.

"Have you got him settled?" Sakura asked Eriol when she noticed him standing at the doorway.

Eriol nodded. "Do you need any help?"

"No, we're fine." Sakura told him. "Go do whatever." She dismissed him.

"I'll be in the library then." Eriol told them.

At dinner, the four of them sat around the table, eating and talking. It was a little difficult because of language barrier, but they managed. John kept his words simple so that Sakura could understand.

Sakura could understand some of what he said, but there were still a lot of words that she didn't understand. She also tried her best to reply, with Eriol's help.

After dinner, John turned in for the night and Eriol left to walk Sakura home.

"I like him. He's nice." Sakura told Eriol as they walked.

"I suppose he's the nicest among them all. He's also the most sensible one."

"He cares about you." Sakura told him. "You might be Clow and all, but he's known you since you were young too."

"Is that what your Gift told you?" Eriol asked.

"No. Don't need any Gift to see that." Sakura said with a smile. She could clearly see that John cared a lot about Eriol in a fatherly way.

They arrived at her house and bid each other good night.

* * *

"You look like you want to ask something." Eriol said at breakfast the next morning. "And I'm guessing it has something to do with Sakura."

"That obvious, huh?" John smirked. "She's a sorceress."

"Yes, but that's not what you want to ask. That's not even a question." Eriol looked at him steadily.

"What kind?" John finally asked. He _was_ curious.

"She's the Cardmistress of the then-Clow cards." Eriol replied.

John looked surprised. "Clow cards? As in…"

"As in my cards, yes. But they're called Sakura cards now, seeing that she's the new owner and all."

"I see. So, she really is special, huh?" John said in understanding. ' _And powerful too, if she's the new master of the cards._ ' John thought.

"She is. And needless to say, I appreciate it if you keep this to yourself." Eriol told him. "Especially from the others." Eriol was referring to their colleagues.

"I have never said anything about you to anyone, I won't start telling people about her now." John nodded. "She hides her presence very well. I take it you train her yourself?" Not everyone could hide their presence that well, especially not someone as young as Sakura. Someone had taught her how to do that.

"Thank you. And yes, I train her myself." Eriol confirmed.

After breakfast, Eriol informed John that he had to run some errands for the day. John could either stay here or come with him. John chose the latter. He had never been to Japan before and looking around would be better than staying inside.

They met up with Sakura and boarded the train to Tokyo to collect Sakura's visa from the British embassy. At lunch time, they treated John to a nice traditional Japanese restaurant to give him a taste of the local culture.

Sakura and Eriol were relieved that they managed to get everything done just in time. Now they could go ahead with their honeymoon, without worrying about visa and other documents. Sakura's new passport was under her new name and her residential visa was just the same.


	26. Chapter 26

In the morning of the wedding, Eriol woke up early and went outside. Looking at the sky, he could see the dark clouds that were starting to gather.

"Key that hides the power of the dark, reveal your true form before me. I, Eriol, command you under our contract. Release!" Eriol summoned his staff.

He moved his staff and he dispersed the dark clouds. Within minutes, the sky turned clear and sunny.

"Playing with weather, aren't we?" Nakuru's voice could be heard from the doorway.

"A garden party is really nice. It would be a shame if it's ruined by rain." Eriol said with a smile.

"I agree." Nakuru nodded.

The garden was already set with chairs and tables, as well as flowers. Eriol had used magic, of course, but he and Sakura had worked together, with the help of John, Fujitaka, Touya and the guardians, to transform the garden into their wedding venue. They had also arranged for the catering service and had rented a big speaker for the music.

"Breakfast is ready. Then you need to get ready for the ceremony. It would be a shame if you're late for your own wedding. Not to mention Sakura wouldn't be too happy about that."

Eriol smirked. He recalled his staff and they went inside. After breakfast, everyone got ready for the day.

* * *

"Sakura, wake up! You do NOT want to be late for your own wedding!" Kero yelled at her and Sakura shot up in bed.

"What time is it?!" She asked, horrified.

"Eight fifteen! Your alarm has been ringing and ringing!" Kero crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Why didn't you wake me up?!" She had planned to wake up early so that she didn't have to rush and had set her alarm for 7.30am. Last night, she couldn't sleep because she was very nervous. She spent hours tossing and turning in bed.

"I was downstairs. We could hear your alarm, but we thought you've woken up. Now, get ready. Tomoyo will be here soon." Kero urged her.

Sakura quickly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to get changed. Dressed in T-shirt and shorts, she went downstairs to eat breakfast, but could barely taste the food in her nervousness.

"If Kero didn't wake you up, you'd probably miss your own wedding. Only you…" Touya shook his head in amusement and Sakura glared at him.

After breakfast, she went back to her room. She looked around at the boxes scattered all around the room. Those were her things, mostly clothes, that she wanted to bring with her to London. There was also a suitcase for the honeymoon, but the boxes would be sent directly to London by courier service tomorrow.

Tomoyo arrived a few minutes later to help Sakura get ready for the big day. She was also tasked with taking pictures and videos of the bride, as Nakuru took care of the groom side. Since she was going to be on the move today, Tomoyo had opted for a more practical dress for herself.

Over time, Sakura did end up learning how to wear makeup and what kind of look she preferred the most. It was a natural look, with the barest hint of makeup. That seemed to be Eriol's preference too, so for today, she had done a simple makeup. Since her hair was longer now, at shoulder-length, she put a couple of clips at the side, but didn't do anything otherwise.

After her makeup was done, Sakura put on the dress. It was a beautiful dress. Tomoyo had outdone herself and Sakura loved the dress. It was simple, as requested. The dress was sleeveless and fitting, but not too tight. Sakura could still move around freely without any restriction. The dress was white with flowing skirt that reached the floor. Tomoyo had adorned it with some detailed embroidery and a bow at the back. To finish off the look, she had also made a matching veil.

"You look beautiful, Sakura." Tomoyo said and Kero agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"Thank you." Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror and liked what she saw. "The dress is so pretty, Tomoyo. You've outdone yourself."

Once she was ready, Sakura went downstairs. Her father smiled and her brother gaped slightly upon seeing her.

"You look very beautiful, Sakura." Fujitaka said.

"Thank you, Dad." Sakura said with a smile.

"Well, looks like the bride is ready. Shall we?" Fujitaka asked. Kero got into Tomoyo's bag and they left to go to the chapel. Eriol had booked a car and a driver to take them to the chapel and he booked one for himself too.

* * *

"Congratulations." A voice said. Eriol turned around and saw his former self standing there, smiling widely.

"Thank you." Eriol thanked him.

"Never thought I'd see the day." Clow said in amusement.

"Neither did I, for an entirely different reason." Eriol turned back to the mirror to continue fixing his tie.

"And yet, here we are." Clow said, the smile never left his face.

"And yet, here we are." Eriol agreed. He took his vest from the hanger and put it on.

"I just drop by to offer my congratulations. Enjoy the day and send my regards to the bride." Clow said and then he disappeared, leaving Eriol standing there by himself.

* * *

Touya and Yukito sat together on the pew at the front in the chapel. John and Eriol sat across the aisle from them. Kero and Spinel were in a bag, beside Yukito. The bag had been modified by Eriol to allow the two guardians to watch the ceremony. Other than them, the chapel was empty. None of their friends attended the ceremony because they had wanted to keep it private. They would see everyone during lunch afterwards.

John watched in amusement as he noticed Eriol fidgeting slightly. He had thought that nothing would make the young wizard nervous, but apparently, it only took an eighteen years old young woman to do that. Granted, she was a very special young lady. Looking at him, John could see it clearly on Eriol's face, the young mage was in love. It came as a surprise for John, but after getting to know Sakura, he could see why. For the past few days, John had gotten to know Sakura and had seen how she interacted with Eriol. It was amazing to see how good she was with him and John could see that she was a very sweet, loving and kind person.

Nakuru and Tomoyo appeared at the entrance and they got into their positions, with their respective cameras, signalling that the bride was ready to make her entrance. Eriol got up and took his place in front of the altar. As the instrumental melody of 'A Thousand Years' started playing, everyone's attention turned to the entrance of the chapel.

When Sakura appeared at the entrance, Eriol's eyes widened as he took in the sight of his bride. When their eyes met, his face broke into a smile and his eyes shone with his love for her as he watched her walk slowly towards him. She was holding onto Fujitaka's arm with one hand and held her wedding bouquet in another. The bouquet was a beautiful bouquet made of red and white roses, and there were even some pink sakura flowers among them. Sakura had created the bouquet herself, using The Flowers.

As Sakura stood there at the entrance, her eyes immediately seek his. When their eyes met and he smiled, Sakura couldn't stop her own smile from spreading across her face under her veil. As she and her Dad made their way down the aisle, Sakura could 'see' Eriol's love for her, intense, passionate and gentle, as it always was.

When they reached the front, Fujitaka placed her hand in Eriol's. The two men bowed to each other before Fujitaka took his seat beside John.

"Hi." Eriol smiled widened as he greeted her.

"Hi." Sakura greeted him back shyly. She looked at him. He looked so handsome in his wedding suit. He was wearing white shirt, tie and vest, with black suit jacket, pants and shoes.

After they greeted each other, they turned to face the priest and the ceremony began.

The priest read out a standardized speech to welcome everyone. After a few minutes, it was time for the bride and the groom to say their vows.

Sakura and Eriol turned to face each other and they reached for each other's hands. Sakura had practiced her vow over and over again, but she was worried she was going to forget something. He seemed to sense her nervousness and gave her hands a gentle squeeze and smiled encouragingly at her.

Looking into his eyes, Sakura could feel a million different emotions and tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath and started to recite her vow. "I, Sakura, take you, Eriol, to be my husband, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." Sakura paused for a second before continuing in English. "I promise to love you, to cherish you, to uphold you and to put you first above all else for as long as I live." Sakura finished and she could see the surprise on his face. But the surprise quickly turned into a loving smile. Now, she just hoped that he would catch on.

Eriol looked at her and said his own vow, "I, Eriol, take you, Sakura, to be my wife, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." He too paused briefly, smiled, then continued in English, "I promise to love you, to cherish you, to uphold you and to put you first above all else for as long as I live."

Sakura smiled widely. He caught on!

"Can we have the rings?" The priest said and Fujitaka said something to John, since he didn't understand Japanese. John quickly stood up and handed the rings to Eriol and Sakura.

Sakura slid the ring on Eriol's left ring finger. "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and my commitment to you." Sakura said. They had both agreed on this part.

Eriol slid the ring on her left ring finger and said, "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and my commitment to you."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Eriol lifted up her veil and smiled widely. "Hello, love." He whispered softly before pressing his lips on hers.

Their kiss lasted briefly, they were in the presence of others after all, and once they pulled apart, the priest announced them and Sakura slipped her hand around his arm as they made their way along the aisle.

* * *

"Congratulations!" Their friends congratulated them as they made their way to the garden.

"Thank you!" They thanked them and the reception started. They greeted everyone and thanked them for coming. Since it wasn't a formal event, they got to enjoy their time together with their guests, taking a lot of pictures along the way with their friends and family.

John stood with Fujitaka. Being a historian and an archeologist, Fujitaka could speak English quite well and he had no problem communicating with John.

About an hour into the party, Touya saw Sakura finishing her conversation with Rika and when Rika left her standing by herself, Touya saw his chance. He quickly approached her. "Sakura, can we talk?"

"Of course!" Sakura agreed. "What is it, Touya?"

"Not here." Touya said, then pointed at the space at the side of the garden, away from everyone. "Can we talk over there?"

Sakura looked confused, and worried, but consented anyway. "Okay."

They walked together to the side of the garden. "What is it, Touya?" Sakura asked as they stood there.

"Uh, she's here." Touya said unsurely.

"She?" Sakura looked even more confused, but then she caught on. "Mom?"

Touya nodded. "She wanted me to tell you something."

Sakura covered her mouth with her hand in surprise. "She, she did?" Tears started to pool at the corner of her eyes. This was the first time that their Mom had ever asked Touya to pass a message to her.

"She said that she's very happy for you and she wished she could be here with us, but she couldn't." Touya looked very uncomfortable as he said this. He looked like he was listening to something, or someone, and continued. "She also wants you to know that she's so proud of the person, the young woman that you've become and she wants you and Eriol to be good to each other."

Sakura couldn't stop the tears from falling. "She really said that?"

"Why would _I_ say those things?" Touya pointed out.

Instead of answering, Sakura suddenly threw herself at Touya, hugging him. "Thank you, Touya!" Then quietly, "Thank you, Mom." A few months ago Sakura doubted herself when it came to whether her Mom would be proud of her, but now all of her doubts had disappeared and she was very happy knowing that her Mom was proud of her, just like what her Dad said she would be.

"H… hey…!" Touya said awkwardly, but then he wrapped his arms around his sister.

Eriol saw Touya and Sakura at the side of the garden, but they were not alone. A smile spread across his face as he saw Nadeshiko's spirit with them.

"What are you smiling about?" Yamazaki asked.

"Nothing." Eriol said. "Just looking at something beautiful." He said as Sakura hugged Touya. He knew Nadeshiko must have asked Touya to tell Sakura something.

Yamazaki followed his eyes and assumed that he was talking about Sakura.

Twenty minutes later, Sakura stepped out of the bathroom. She had cried a little after what Touya said and had to freshen up in the bathroom. Sakura started walking back to the garden but was stopped by Eriol's voice. "Saku."

Sakura turned and saw him poking his head out from the library. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked confusedly as she approached him.

"Waiting for you." He said as he opened the library door wider to let her in. "We haven't even had any alone time since the ceremony." Eriol said with a slight pout on his face.

"Really, Eriol?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "We have guests and…" Sakura was silenced by his kiss. This was not like the kiss in the chapel. It was deep and passionate. "… you're hiding in the library." Sakura finished off her sentence after he let go of her lips.

"Been wanting to do that all day." Eriol said with a grin. "And I'm not hiding. How are you feeling?" His grin disappeared, replaced by a look of concern.

At first, Sakura was puzzled by his question, but then she quickly realized what he meant. "You saw her too?"

"I did." He nodded. "I'm glad she could make it."

"Me too." Sakura smiled. "I'm okay. I think I've made Touya very uncomfortable, but I'm okay."

"That's good. She wouldn't want to make you sad, you know." Eriol said gently.

Sakura nodded. "I know." She then placed a quick kiss on his lips. "You caught on, with the vow."

"Of course I did! You surprised me though. That was very sweet of you." Eriol's smile was back. "And you look so very beautiful."

Sakura blushed. "You look very handsome yourself."

"I love you so much." Eriol told her tenderly.

"I love you too." Sakura had a brilliant smile as she told him.

They shared a few more kisses before going back to the garden to rejoin their guests.

A couple of hours later, their guests left. Fujitaka took John to the hotel that he'd be staying at tonight. Nakuru and Tomoyo, however, had stayed back because they were going to do a wedding photoshoot with the bride and the groom for their wedding pictures. They even took some pictures with their Sun guardians.

One of the pictures that Nakuru took was a shot of Sakura standing and Eriol got down on one knee in front of her. He held her hand and brought it to his lips. It was just like what he did all those years ago, but instead of holding a teddy bear, Sakura was holding her wedding bouquet.

* * *

"Do you trust me?" Eriol asked later that evening, after dinner. They both had changed into a more casual clothing.

"Of course…" Sakura nodded firmly.

Eriol took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you." He instructed.

Sakura closed her eyes and Eriol guided her to the back, out to the garden. Sakura could feel the soft grass beneath her bare feet. "Wait here, Saku. Keep your eyes closed, okay?" He said and she nodded.

"Eriol, what are you doing?" Sakura asked when she felt his magic. Her curiosity grew when she heard some music started playing. "Eriol…?" She reached out her hand for him, but kept her eyes closed.

Eriol caught her hand in his. "I'm here. You can open your eyes now, love."

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and found herself standing in the middle of the garden. She could hear the music, which came from nowhere. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw glowing lights, not unlike her own Glow card, in the air around them, illuminating the otherwise dark garden.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Eriol held out his hand, a soft smile on his face.

Sakura blushed. "Yes." She shyly put her hand in his.

They started swaying with the music. Sakura had one hand resting on his shoulder and her other hand was held gently in his hand, with his arm around her waist.

"I can't believe that you're finally mine." He tightened his arm around her. "I love you so much, Mrs. Hiiragizawa." Eriol told her as he held her close.

Sakura had a big, bright smile on her face. "I love you too, Mr. Hiiragizawa. Are you mine too then?"

"Don't you know, Saku? I have always been and will always be yours." With that, Eriol cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.


End file.
